85507660
Globalization and the Transformation of Political Attitude Structures at the Party Level in the Arab World: Insights from the Cases of Egypt and Jordan
In this paper, the outline, design, and findings of an ongoing research project on the effects of globalization on the transformation of political ideology in the Arab world at the political party level are presented. It is argued that globalization has altered the dimensionality, type, and structuration of political ideology in the Arab world. The structure of preferences among political actors in the region shifted from a unidimensional one in the post-independence era to become multidimensional in the contemporary period, defined by high rates of economic, cultural, and political globalization. Arab political parties no longer organize their platforms based on the Islamic–liberal, Islamist–secular, or cultural divides. An economic values-based dimension has emerged to divide party programs, adding a second, distinct and statistically independent dimension to the already existing classic church versus state cleavage. Further, a new family of Islamist parties has emerged due to the economic, cultural, and political gains from globalization. This project argues that globalization causes political ideological shifts in attitudes through formulating new groups, schedules of preferences, and political/economic opportunities. This research contributes to the ongoing debate on the influence of globalization and any other social transformation process on changing political actors’ preferences across time and space.
154635428
The Eclipse of the State? Reflections on Stateness in an Era of Globalization
The economic logic of the current international economy does not predict the "eclipse of the state." Economic globalization does restrict state power, but transnational capital needs capable states as much or more than does domestically oriented business. National success in the current global political economy has been associated not with minimal states but with states that are capable, active, and engaged. Pressure for eclipse flows from the conjunction between transnational economic forces and the political hegemony of an Anglo-American ideology that, in J. P. Nettl's words, "simply leaves no room for any valid notion of the state." Even this combination of economic and political pressure is unlikely to eclipse the state, but it is likely to put public institutions on the defensive, eclipsing any possibility of the "embedded liberalism" described by John Ruggie. A "leaner, meaner" state is the likely outcome. The possibility of a more progressive alternative outcome would depend in part on whether current zero-sum visions of the relation between the state and civil society can be replaced by a more synergistic view.
13872025
The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy
One of the most important developments over the past three decades has been the spread of liberal economic ideas and policies throughout the world. These policies have affected the lives of millions of people, yet our most sophisticated political economy models do not adequately capture influences on these policy choices. Evidence suggests that the adoption of liberal economic practices is highly clustered both temporally and spatially. We hypothesize that this clustering might be due to processes of policy diffusion. We think of diffusion as resulting from one of two broad sets of forces: one in which mounting adoptions of a policy alter the benefits of adopting for others and another in which adoptions provide policy relevant information about the benefits of adopting. We develop arguments within these broad classes of mechanisms, construct appropriate measures of the relevant concepts, and test their effects on liberalization and restriction of the current account, the capital account, and the exchange rate regime. Our findings suggest that domestic models of foreign economic policy making are insufficient. The evidence shows that policy transitions are influenced by international economic competition as well as the policies of a country's sociocultural peers. We interpret the latter influence as a form of channeled learning reflecting governments' search for appropriate models for economic policy.
21375301
Globalization and the transformation of the national political space: Six European countries compared
In this paper, we present the basic ideas, the design and some key results of an ongoing research project on the transformation of the national political space in Western Europe. We start from the assumption that the current process of globalization or denationaliza-tion leads to the formation of a new structural conflict in Western European countries, opposing those who benefit from this process to those who tend to loose in the course of the events. The structural opposition between globalization "winners" and "losers" is expected to constitute potentials for the political mobilization within national political contexts. The political mobilization of these potentials, in turn, is expected to give rise to two intimately related dynamics: the transformation of the basic structure of the na-tional political space and the strategic repositioning of the political parties within the transforming space. We present several hypotheses with regard to these two dynamics and test them empirically on the basis of newly collected data concerning the supply side of electoral politics from six Western European countries (Austria, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland). The results indicate that in all the countries, the new cleavage has been embedded into the existing two-dimensional national political spaces. In the process, the meaning of the original dimensions has been transformed. The configuration of the main parties has become triangular even in a country like France where it used to be bipolar.
153807425
Understanding Globalization: The Social Consequences of Political, Economic, and Environmental Change
Chapter 1 Globalizing Production in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan Chapter 2 Dollar Devaluations Chapter 3 Fighting Inflation Chapter 4 Debt Crisis and Globalization Chapter 5 An Age of Migrations Chapter 6 Dictatorship and Democracy Chapter 7 The Rise of China Chapter 8 Collateral Damage: The Causes and Consequences of 9/11 Chapter 9 The Legacy of Partition in India and Pakistan: 1947-1948 Chapter 10 Partition in Palestine: 1948 Chapter 11 Revolution and War in Iran and Iraq: 1978-1980 Chapter 12 Revolution and War in Afghanistan Chapter 13 The Aftermath of 9/11 Chapter 14 Global Climate Change
152846763
Measuring Globalisation: Gauging Its Consequences
Towards an Understanding of the Concept of Globalisation.- The Measurement of Globalisation.- Consequences of Globalisation Reconsidered: Applying The KOF Index.- Conclusion.
25518000
Voting in Open Economies
What are the electoral consequences of global market integration? Although recent discussions of politics and markets have much to say on globalization’s implications for policy outcomes, the impact of market integration on representative democracy has received scant attention. This article addresses this omission. We extend the globalization literature to develop two competing hypotheses regarding the influence of open economies on electoral accountability. Predictions are tested using a new data set covering elections from 75 countries over 27 years. Results support a government constraint hypothesis: Exposure to the world economy weakens connections between economic performance and support for political incumbents. By redirecting concerns from the policy implications of globalization and toward its electoral consequences, findings highlight the influence of voter perceptions and of vote-seeking politicians in the politics of globalization.
16182022
Regulating Globalization? The Reinvention of Politics
This article explores the political implications of the growing enmeshment of human communities with each other over time and the way in which the fate of peoples is determined increasingly by complex social, economic and environmental processes that stretch across their borders. Examining the growing interconnections between states and societies, the article focuses on the transformations that are under way in the form and nature of political community. It does not argue that globalization has simply eroded the nature of sovereignty and autonomy. Rather, it seeks to show how there has been a reconfiguration of political power, which has created new forms of governance and politics - both within states and beyond their boundaries. The consequences of globalization for democracy and accountability are also examined. While the article shows that the idea of government or of the state can no longer be simply defended as an idea suitable to a particular, closed political community or nation-state, it sets forth how new forms of governance are emerging - regionally, internationally and globally - that can be built upon and further elaborated. The last part explores how a `cosmopolitan conception of democratic governance' might meet the political challenges created by globalization. Both the general principles and institutional implications of this form of governance are set out, disclosing both short- and long-term possibilities.
140798371
Globalization Theory: Approaches and Controversies
* Contents * Contributors * Acronyms * Preface * Introduction :Globalization at Risk? David Held and Anthony McGrew * Part One - The Making of Globalization * Chapter 1 Organized Violence in the Making (and Unmaking) of Globalization * Anthony McGrew * Chapter 2 Globalization as American Hegemony * G. John Ikenberry * Chapter 3 Globalization, imperialism, and the capitalist world system * Alex Callinicos * Chapter 4 The places and spaces of the global:an expanded analytic terrain * Saskia Sassen * Chapter 5 The Political Economy of Globalization * Layna Mosley * Chapter 6 Social Constructivism Meets Globalization * Thomas Risse * Chapter 7 Globalization and Cultural Analysis * John Tomlinson * * Part Two- The Remaking of Globalization * Chapter 8 Reimagining International Society and Global Community * Chris Brown * Chapter 9 The Liberal Peace, Democratic Accountability and the Challenge of Globalization * Michael W. Doyle * Chapter 10 Reframing Global Economic Security and Justice * Thomas Pogge * Chapter 11 Reconstructing Global Governance - Eight Innovations * Andrew Kuper * Chapter 12 Reframing Global Governance: Apocalypse Soon or Reform! David Held
152848760
Globalization, Domestic Politics, and Social Spending in Latin America: A Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis, 1973-97
This study examines the effects of globalization, democratization, and partisanship on social spending in fourteen Latin American countries from 1973 to 1997, using a pooled time-series error-correction model. The authors examine three sets of issues. First, following debates in the literature on oecd countries, they want to know whether social spending has been encouraged or constrained by integration into global markets. Within this context, they examine the extent to which such outcomes might be influenced by two additional sets of domestic political and institutional factors discussed in work on developed countries: the electoral pressures of democratic institutions and whether or not popularly based governments are in power.  The authors show that trade integration has a consistently negative effect on aggregate social spending and that this is compounded by openness to capital markets. This is the strongest and most robust finding in the study. Neither democratic nor popularly based governments consistently affect overall social spending. The authors then disaggregate spending into social security transfers and expenditures on health and education. They find that popularly based governments tend to protect social security transfers, which tend to flow disproportionately to their unionized constituencies; but they have a negative impact on health and education spending. Conversely, a shift to democracy leads to increases in health and education spending, which reaches a larger segment of the population. The authors conclude by emphasizing the contrasting political logics of the different types of social spending.
154940097
Globalization and Social Policy
Many accounts of globalization and social policy accept the `strong' globalization thesis in emphasizing the naturalistic, inevitable nature of globalization, the external constraints imposed on governments by international markets and international governmental organizations and the limitations placed on international and domestic politics and social policies. This article argues that a less `defeatist' and more fruitful way of analysing the relationship between globalization and social policy is to consider, first, how globalization has thrown up structures for contestation, resistance and opposition and, second, how states and other interests act domestically and outwardly through their own `multi-tiered', `multi-sphered' strategies to determine the pace, course, timing and effects of globalization. Accordingly, the article highlights the range of actions taken by states as well as by the voting, consuming and productive populations at a number of levels (local, national, regional, international) and in a number of spheres (national/transnational, political, economic) to regulate or oppose globalizing strategies. The outcomes of these struggles for social and economic welfare are never certain in advance but depend, crucially, on the context in which they are negotiated. La Mondialisation et la Politique Sociale: d'une Hégémonie Néo-libérale Globale vers un Pluralisme Politique Global De nombreux travaux sur la mondialisation et la politique sociale adhèrent à la thèse d'une mondialisation dite forte en soulignant (i) le caractère naturaliste et inévitable de la mondialisation, (ii) les contraintes externes imposées aux gouvernements par les marchés internationaux et les organisations gouvernementales internationales ainsi que (iii) les limitations qui frappent les politiques nationales et internationales et notamment le domaine social. Cet article se veut partisan d'une approche moins `défaitiste' et plus fructueuse qui consiste à examiner les liens entre mondialisation et politique sociale en considérant, premièrement, comment la mondialisation a contribué à l'émergence de structures de contestation, de résistance et d'opposition et, deuxièmement, comment les États et autres parties prenantes agissent au plan interne et externe à travers leurs propres stratégies `multi-étages' et `transversales' pour déterminer la cadence, la direction, l'échéancier et les effets de la mondialisation. Logiquement, l'article met en évidence toute la panoplie d'actions mises en oeuvre par les États tout comme par les populations à titre d'électeurs, de consommateurs et de producteurs, à plusieurs niveaux (local, national, régional, international) et dans plusieurs domaines (national/transnational, politique, économique), afin de réglementer, voire de rejeter les stratégies de mondialisation. Les résultats de ces luttes pour le bien-être économique et social ne sont jamais certains à l'avance, car ils dépendent avant tout du contexte dans lequel ils sont négociés. N Globalización y Política Social: de la Hegemonía Global Neoliberal al Pluralismo Político Global En muchos estudios sobre la globalización y las políticas sociales se acepta la tesis `fuerte' de la globalización dadas (i) la naturaleza lógica e inevitable de la globalización, (ii) las limitaciones externas que imponen a los gobiernos los mercados internacionales y las organizaciones internacionales que los agrupan y (iii) las limitaciones que pesan sobre las medidas de política social y sobre la política internacional y doméstica. En este estudio se sostiene que una manera menos `derrotista' y útil de analizar la relación entre la globalización y la política social consiste en considerar en primer lugar cómo la globalización ha creado la competencia, resistencia y oposición entre las estructuras y, en segundo lugar, de qué manera los estados y otros grupos de interés actúan tanto interiormente como hacia el exterior recurriendo a sus propias estrategias de capas y esferas múltiples para determinar el ritmo, curso, oportunidad y efectos de la globalización. En consecuencia, el documento destaca la gama de iniciativas gubernamentales, así como la composición de los grupos de votantes, consumidores y agentes productivos en varios niveles (local, nacional, regional e internacional) y esferas (nacional/ transnacional, política y económica) en el marco de los esfuerzos por reglamentar u oponerse a las estrategias de globalización. No está· asegurado que tales luchas por el bienestar social y económico tengan un resultado asegurado ya que éste dependerá en gran medida del contexto en que la conforntación se lleva a cabo.
73658721
Economic Globalization, Domestic Politics, and Income Inequality in the Developed Countries
This article assesses the impact of economic globalization and domestic political factors on income inequality and state redistribution in the developed countries over the past two decades, using household-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study that are more detailed, accurate, and cross-nationally comparable than those used in previous empirical work. It examines three major modes of international integration—trade, direct foreign investment, and international financial flows—as well as four domestic political variables—the partisan balance of national cabinets, electoral turnout, union density, and the centralization of wage-setting institutions. The study finds only scattered relationships between global integration and income distribution or redistribution but reasonably strong positive relationships between several domestic political variables and an egalitarian distribution of income and/or extensive state redistribution. These findings are consistent with a growing number of studies that emphasize the resilience of domestic political factors in the face of economic globalization.
154734788
High Skills: Globalization, Competitiveness, and Skill Formation
Economic globalization has led to intense debates about the competitiveness of nations. Prosperity, social justice, and welfare are now seen to depend on the creation of a 'high skilled' workforce. This international consensus around high skills has led recent American presidents to claim themselves 'education presidents' and in Britain, Tony Blair has announced that 'talent is 21st-century wealth'. This view of knowledge-driven capitalism has led all the developed economies to increase numbers of highly-trained people in preparation for technical, professional, and managerial employment. But it also harbours the view that what we regard as a 'skilled' worker is being transformed. The pace of technological innovation, corporate restructuring, and the changing nature of work require a new configuration of skills described in the language of creativity, teamwork, employability, self-management, and lifelong learning. But is this optimistic account of a future of high-skilled work for all justified? This book draws on the findings of a major international comparative study of national routes to a 'high skills' economy in Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States, and includes data from interviews with over 250 key stakeholders. It is the first book to offer a comparative examination of 'high skill' policies -- a topic of major public debate that is destined to become of even greater importance in all the developed economies in the early decades of the twenty-first century. Contributors to this volume - Phillip Brown Andy Green and Akiko Sakamoto Hugh Lauder Hugh Lauder (with Yadollah Mehralizadeh) Phillip Brown
1176264
Political Parties Online: Digital Democracy as Reflected in Three Dutch Political Party Web Sites
Abstract This paper examines how three Dutch political parties employ the Internet as a tool to enhance ‘digital democracy’. The potential of digital democracy is considered to be strongest in the sphere of collective action outside the domain of political institutions. In this article, however, attention is given to how institutionalized channels might be supportive of digital democracy. Three components of the democratic process – information provision, deliberation, and political decision-making – are examined in the content and user assessments of the web sites of the Socialist Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Green Party. Minor differences were found in the party web sites regarding information provision; substantial differences were found regarding the degree and nature of political deliberation available on the sites. Indicators of the third component, political decision-making, were least evident on all three web sites. User assessments of the sites and opportunities for political deliberation followed, more or less, the general public images of the related political parties.
145979230
The changing structure of political cleavages in western society
The hydrochloride salt of 1-morpholinomethyl-5-ethyl-5-phenyl barbituric acid has been provided by the reaction of 5-ethyl-5-phenyl barbituric acid with morpholine, hydrochloric acid and formaldehyde. The use of this compound and 1-morpholinomethyl-5-ethyl-5-phenyl barbituric acid as anticonvulsants, and therapeutic compositions containing the same are also disclosed.
199144170
Political Cleavages
Introduction Issues, Parties, and Political Cleavages Democratization and the New Left-Right Axis of Political Competition The Data The Method Organization of the Book 1. Democracy, Democratization, and Political Cleavages New Issues and New Cleavages The Concept of Political Cleavages Political Cleavages in Advanced and New Democracies Conclusion 2. Political Cleavages in Advanced Industrial Societies Postmodern-Fundamentalist and Left-Right Materialist Issue Dimensions Political Cleavages in Advanced Industrial Democracies Conclusion 3. Political Cleavages in Post-Communist Societies Democratization in Post-Communist Societies Issue Dimensions in Post-Communist Societies Political Cleavages in Post-Communist Societies in the Early 1990s Political Cleavages in Russia: The 1996 Presidential Election Conclusion 4. Political Cleavages in Latin America Democratization in Latin America Latin American Issue Dimensions in the 1990s Social Bases of Issue Preferences Party Competition and Cleavages in Latin America Conclusion 5. Conclusion: A Cross-National Comparison of Cleavages A Summary of the Main Political Cleavages A Cross-National Comparison of Issue Positions Conclusion Appendix A : Surveys and Question Wording Appendix B : A Brief Description of Discriminant Analysis References
153382676
Political Cleavage: A Conceptual and Theoretical Analysis
Abraham Kaplan in his ‘paradox of conceptualization’ draws attention to the fundamental problem of concept-formation: ‘The proper concepts are needed to formulate good theory, but we need a good theory to arrive at the proper concepts’. On this view, concepts are neither right nor wrong but are more or less useful; their utility is determined by the twin and mutually dependent requirements of empirical precision and theoretical importance. ‘Empirical precision’ has to do with a concept's ability to ‘carve up’ the world of phenomena without unnecessary ambiguities; ‘theoretical importance’ has to do with the utility of a concept in the development of statements of wide explanatory and predictive power.
154458493
The Past in the Present: A Cleavage Theory of Party Response to European Integration
This article explains the positions taken by national political parties on the issue of European integration over the period 1984â€“96. Based on the theory of party systems developed by Lipset and Rokkan, we develop a cleavage account of party response to new political issues. We hypothesize that European integration is assimilated into pre-existing ideologies of party leaders, activists and constituencies that reflect long-standing commitments on fundamental domestic issues.
145553952
Issue Conflict and Consensus among Party Leaders and Followers
American political parties are often regarded as "brokerage" organizations, weak in principle, devoid of ideology, and inclined to differ chiefly over unimportant questions. In contrast to the "ideological" parties of Europewhich supposedly appeal to their followers through sharply defined, coherent, and logically related doctrines-the American parties are thought to fit their convictions to the changing demands of the political contest.2 According to this view, each set of American party leaders is satisfied to play Tweedledee to the other's Tweedledum.
30300971
The New Cultural Divide and the Two-Dimensional Political Space in Western Europe
While the endorsement of universalistic values by the New Left led to a first transformation of political space in Western Europe, the counter-mobilisation of the extreme populist right resulted in a second transformation in the 1990s. This article focuses on the discursive innovations and normative foundations that have driven the emergence of a conflict opposing libertarian-universalistic and traditionalist-communitarian values. An analysis using data from the media coverage of election campaigns confirms that the New Left and the populist right represent polar normative ideals in France, Austria, and Switzerland. A similar transformation of political space occurred in the absence of a right-wing populist party in Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands. In these contexts, the author hypothesises the value conflict to prove less durable and polarising in the longer run. The analysis of an election in the mid 2000s confirms that party systems evolve in a path dependent manner in the two contexts.
151719366
Political economy and the changing global order
The end of the Cold War, the rapid growth of the Asia-Pacific powers, the arrival of NAFTA and the European Union, and the new GATT Accord signal an unprecedented pace of change in the global economic order. Bringing together thirty-three specially commissioned chapters by leading scholars in politics, economics, and international relations, Political Economy and the Changing Global Order provides an authoritative introduction to the theory and practice of international economic relations in the post-Cold War world. The book ranges widely, covering developments at global and regional levels, key issues and trends, and the changing policies of major states, as well as presenting a broad range of theoretical perspectives. Particular emphasis is given to the many and varied connections between the international and domestic, and political and economic, dimensions of global change. A distinguished cast of contributors brings a breadth of expertise to a coherent, accessible collection, specifically designed for use as a course text.
148668373
Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East
In this 2010 edition of their book on the economic development of the Middle East and North Africa, Clement Henry and Robert Springborg reflect on what has happened to the region's economy since 2001. How have the various countries in the Middle East responded to the challenges of globalization and to the rise of political Islam, and what changes, for better or for worse, have occurred? Utilizing the country categories they applied in the previous book and further elaborating the significance of the structural power of capital and Islamic finance, they demonstrate how over the past decade the monarchies (as exemplified by Jordan, Morocco and those of the Gulf Cooperation Council) and the conditional democracies (Israel, Turkey and Lebanon) continue to do better than the military dictatorships or 'bullies' (Egypt, Tunisia and now Iran) and 'the bunker states' (Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen).
73522563
Who inhabits the European public sphere? Winners and losers, supporters and opponents in Europeanised political debates
European integration shifts the distribution of political opportunities to influence public debates, improving the relative influence of some collective actors, and weakening that of others. This article investigates which actors profit from and which actors stand to lose from the Europeanisation of political communication in mass-mediated public spheres. Furthermore, it asks to what extent these effects of Europeanisation can help one to understand collective actors' evaluation of European institutions and the integration process. Data is analysed on some 20,000 political claims by a variety of collective actors, drawn from 28 newspapers in seven European countries in the period 1990-2002, across seven different issue fields with varying degrees of EU policy-making power. The results show that government and executive actors are by far the most important beneficiaries of the Europeanisation of public debates compared to legislative and party actors, and even more so compared to civil society actors, who are extremely weakly represented in Europeanised public debates. The stronger is the type of Europeanisation that is considered, the stronger are these biases. For most actors, a close correspondence is found between how Europeanisation affects their influence in the public debate, on the one hand, and their public support for, or opposition to, European institutions and the integration process, on the other. © 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation © 2007 (European Consortium for Political Research).
155082752
Winners, Losers, and Attitudes about Government in Contemporary Democracies
The article compares the effect of political majority and minority status on attitudes toward government in mature and newly established democracies. Specifically, it examines whether being in the majority translates into more positive attitudes toward government than being in the minority. Using surveys conducted by the International Social Survey Project (ISSP) in 12 democracies in 1996, it finds that being in the majority generally translates into more positive attitudes toward government. However, this effect is not of uniform magnitude across countries, nor does it affect all attitudes toward government equally. Specifically, the data show that being in the political majority or minority strongly affects attitudes toward the performance of the political system and the power of government, but does not affect people's levels of political efficacy in systematic ways.
144758972
Israel's 1993 Decision to Make Peace with the PLO or How Political Losers (this Time) Became Winners
Political losers' theory claims that political losers can move to a winning position if they turn the tables and change the situation completely. Our analysis shows that political losers can become winners by maintaining their favored option on the agenda. If the alternatives promoted by the political winners collapse and the losers have access to the winners' agenda, then there can be a situation in which the losers' favored alternative might be adopted. The 1993 Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) illustrates this. We show how a team of political losers facilitated an alternative that the political winner – Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin – eventually had to adopt when his more favored options for negotiations became irrelevant. Thus, this narrative offers a complementary explanation to existing explanations of the Oslo Agreement, applies political losers' theory and provides further insight into the influence of domestic politics on international negotiations.
39072417
Power and Political Institutions
Rational choice theory tends to view political institutions as structures of voluntary cooperation that resolve collective action problems and benefit all concerned. Yet the political process often gives rise to institutions that are good for some people and bad for others, depending on who has the power to impose their will. Political institutions may be structures of cooperation, but they may also be structures of power—and the theory does not tell us much about this. As a result, it gives us a one-sided and overly benign view of what political institutions are and do. This problem is not well understood, and indeed is not typically seen as a problem at all. For there is a widespread sense in the rational choice literature that, because power is frequently discussed, it is an integral part of the theory and just as fundamental as cooperation. Confusion on this score has undermined efforts to right the imbalance. My purpose here is to clarify the analytic roles that power and cooperation actually play in this literature, and to argue that a more balanced theory—one that brings power from its periphery to its very core—is both necessary and entirely possible.Terry M. Moe is the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution (moe@hoover.stanford.edu). An earlier version of this article was presented at the Yale Conference on Crafting and Operating Institutions, April 11–13, 2003. The author would like to thank Sven Feldmann, Lloyd Gruber, James Fearon, Peter Hall, Jennifer Hochschild, Stephen Krasner, Chris Mantzavinos, Gary Miller, Paul Pierson, Theda Skocpol, Barry Weingast, and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
153180754
Globalization / Anti-Globalization: Beyond the Great Divide
* List of Figures and Tables * Acknowledgements * Introduction *1 The Demise of Globalization? : Current Controversies * * Part One - The Globalization Controversy *2 The Recon?guration of Political Power? *3 The Fate of National Culture *4 Global Insecurities: Military Threats and Environmental Catastrophe *5 A New World Economic Order ? : Global Markets and State Power *6 The Great Divergence? Global Inequality and Development *7 (Mis)Managing the World? * Part Two - Remaking Globalization *8 Beyond Globalization / Antiglobalization *9 World Orders, Ethical Foundations *10 The Contentious Politics of Globalization: Mapping Ideals * and Theories *11 Reconstructing World Order: Towards Cosmopolitan * Social Democracy *12 Testing Cosmopolitan Social Democracy the challenge of 9/11 and global economic governance * References * Index *
144285574
The Political in the Era of Globalization and Finance: Focus on Some Régulation School Research
This article analyses macroeconomic developments of the 1990s in the light of recent propositions from "regulation" theory. These are concerned, firstly, with taking into account interdependencies between the political and economic spheres, with notions of the complementary nature and hierarchy of institutions, with the endogeneity of transition from growth to crisis and with the position of the nation-state in a situation of greater international interdependence. Thus, they go on to demonstrate that 'globalization' relates, above all, to finance and is more the expression of a political project than of economic determinism. The extension of market adjustments has simply not led to the recovery of dynamic efficiency. The viability of various forms of capitalism depends greatly on the international configuration and on the political strategies of the various governments. Finally, the viability of a finance-dominated or, perhaps, a property-owning growth regime may prove problematic, as much from a theoretical as from an empirical point of view. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2000.
154214360
Aid and Power in the Arab World: The IMF and World Bank Policy-Based Lending in the Middle East and North Africa
Globalization, International Finance and Economic Reform in the Arab World The Economic and Political Determinants of IMF and World Bank Lending in the Middle East and North Africa Egypt's Successful Stabilization without Structural Reform The IMF and World Bank in Jordan: A Case of Over Optimism and Elusive Growth The Political Economy of IMF and World Bank Interventions: Is Tunisia really a model Student? Economic Reform in Morocco: Stabilization versus Adjustment Conclusion and Synthesis: What can be Learnt from Our Four Country Studies?
152330697
Politics of the Dispossessed: Superpowers and Developments in the Middle East
Introduction Reflections on Theories of the State Revolution The State and Superpowers in Afghanistan State and Society in Modern Iraq The State and Development in Syria Reassessment of Developments in the Middle East Bibliography Index
151212844
Globalization and EFL/ESL Pedagogy in the Arab World.
This paper attempts to define globalization based on the literature highlighting its major facets. By discussing the spread of English and motives for this kind of spread, the paper outlines some of the impacts the language of globalization has had on different societies/cultures and the kind of reactions this language has generated among different cultures. It contends that the spread of English as the language of globalization cannot be fully understood without realization of the hegemonic and imperialistic nature of English. It also shows that English is unilateral in vision and forms a real threat to other languages and cultures. However, it claims that despite the hegemonic and imperialistic nature of English, it is still badly'needed in the Arab world for the purposes of communicating with the world, education, acquiring technology, and development at large. To teach English as a language of globalization, it is necessary to change older, more traditional methods of language instruction. It is important to solidify teaching of the native language, empower learners to have more self-confidence through learning English, teach the language as a foreign, rather than second language, and make changes in the curriculum in response to the needs of the learner and society. Shifts of emphasis have to be made in the teaching of language skills, specifically those within reading and writing. (Contains 65 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Globalization And EFL/ESL Pedagogy in the Arab World Muhammad Raji Zughoul Department of English Yarmouk University, Jordan PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) /11) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official PERI position or policy.
144514171
Arab cultural communication patterns
Abstract In response to Shuter's (Shuter, 1990) call for the examination of communicative phenomena in particular societies worldwide, this article critically reviews the existing and, in some cases, contradictory research on cultural communication patterns in the Arab world. The article first clarifies the term “Arab” and provides boundaries for discussing communicative phenomena in the region. It then reviews recent investigations of Arab cultural communication patterns from an interdisciplinary perspective. More specifically, it focuses on several themes evident and available in the literature: (a) basic cultural values, (b) language and verbal communication, and (c) nonverbal and paralinguistic patterns. Following each theme are directions for future research. Finally, the article proposes strategies to overcome barriers to research in the Arab region and concludes with an extensive bibliography of resources. It is a hope that this article will stimulate scholarly interest in the Arab world and serve as a catalyst for the inclusion of Arab communication patterns in the teaching of intercultural communication, as well as in future research and theory development.
49380522
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability
Contrary to conventional wisdom, markets and democracy - at least in the raw form in which they have been promoted for the last 25 years - may not be mutually reinforcing in many developing countries. The reason for this has to do with the phenomenon of market-dominant minorities (MDMs): ethnic minorities who, along with foreign investors, can be expected under free market conditions to economically dominate the "indigenous" majorities around them, at least in the near to midterm future. Examples of MDMs include the Chinese throughout Southeast Asia, Indians throughout East Africa, the Lebanese in West Africa, Ibo in Nigeria, Bamileke in Cameroon, Tutsi in Rwanda, Kikuyu in Kenya, Whites in South Africa, Whites in Zimbabwe, Croatians in the former Yugoslavia, Jews in post-Communist Russia, Tamils in Sri Lanka - the list goes on. Reasons for market-dominance vary widely, ranging from entrepreneurialism to a history of apartheid or colonial oppression. The extent of market-dominance is typically startling. In the Philippines, for example, the 1% Chinese control as much as 60% of the private economy. In countries with an MDM, markets and democracy will tend to favor different ethnic groups. Markets magnify the glaringly disproportionate wealth of the MDM, generating great reservoirs of ethnic envy and resentment (even if "all boats are lifted"), while democracy increases the political power of the impoverished "indigenous" majority. In such circumstances - where the rich are not just rich, but are viewed as belonging to a resented "outsider" ethnic group - the pursuit of free market democracy becomes an engine of potentially catastrophic ethnonationalism, pitting a poor "indigenous" majority, easily aroused by opportunistic vote-seeking politicians, against the MDM. The result is an ethnically combustible situation that will typically lead to one of three kinds of backlash: (1) a backlash against markets (e.g., through ethnically targeted confiscation or nationalization); (2) a backlash against democracy by forces favorable to the MDM (e.g., through crony capitalism); or (3) a violent backlash against the MDM itself (e.g., through expulsion or ethnic cleansing).
28550342
Social news, citizen journalism and democracy
This article aims to contribute to a critical research agenda for investigating the democratic implications of citizen journalism and social news. The article calls for a broad conception of ‘citizen journalism’ which is (1) not an exclusively online phenomenon, (2) not confined to explicitly ‘alternative’ news sources, and (3) includes ‘metajournalism’ as well as the practices of journalism itself. A case is made for seeing democratic implications not simply in the horizontal or ‘peer-to-peer’ public sphere of citizen journalism networks, but also in the possibility of a more ‘reflexive’ culture of news consumption through citizen participation. The article calls for a research agenda that investigates new forms of gatekeeping and agenda-setting power within social news and citizen journalism networks and, drawing on the example of three sites, highlights the importance of both formal and informal status differentials and of the software ‘code’ structuring these new modes of news production.
161091110
The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East
Oil Kings offers the first inside look at how an oil crisis was manipulated by Alan Greenspan, Donald Rumsfeld, and President Ford (hoping to secure his re-election), helping to precipitate the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979. Andrew Scott Cooper reveals the fatal struggle between the oil kingsA", both Middle-Eastern and American, as they jockeyed for power, playing games that led directly to the rise of Iran's radical anti-American theocracy, which still exists today. An intrepid investigative reporter, Andrew Scott Cooper is the first to access newly declassified papers, and to interview key people who formulated US foreign poilicy in that period. Carefully connecting up the dots, he brilliantly reconstructs the history of that vexed decade when the modern world was changed forever.
127563980
Saudi Arabia and Iran : soft power rivalry in the Middle East
Introduction Chapter 1: The Middle East in International Relations Chapter 2: Arabian Gulf vs. Persian Gulf Chapter 3: History, Politics and Narratives of State-Building, Chapter 4: Religious Incongruence Chapter 5: Ethno-Tribal Incongruence Chapter 6: The Response of the State Chapter 7: Internal-External Security Dilemmas Conclusion
162338366
The Accommodationists Speak:Goals and Strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt
With the Islamist movement gaining momentum and recruits throughout the Near and Middle East and North Africa, it is vital that scholars and practitioners make an attempt to understand the objectives and strategies expressed by the groups within this movement. It is also imperative that we acknowledge that the Islamic resurgence is not a monolithic phenomenon, but is characterized by factions and voices that diverge on their approach to major themes such as the nature of society, the preferred relationship between Islamist activists and the political system, methodology for alleviating socioeconomic frustrations and spiritual laxity, and the temporal framework within which Islamist goals are to be achieved. The more “radical” or militant of these groups insist upon revolutionary change that is to be imposed on the masses and political system, whereas the more moderate groups, epitomized by the new Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, call for gradual change that is to be undertaken from within the political system and with the enlistment of the Muslim masses.
157081008
Cleavage theory meets Europe’s crises: Lipset, Rokkan, and the transnational cleavage
ABSTRACT This article argues that the perforation of national states by immigration, integration and trade may signify a critical juncture in the political development of Europe no less consequential for political parties and party systems than the previous junctures that Lipset and Rokkan detect in their classic article. We present evidence suggesting that (1) party systems are determined in episodic breaks from the past; (2) political parties are programmatically inflexible; and, (3) as a consequence, party system change comes in the form of rising parties.
158779472
Effects of Modernization and Globalization of Values Change in the Arab World
This paper argues that social transformation processes generate shifts in public opinion among the public. More specifically, increasing rates of modernization and globalization in the Arab world over the past half century have led to a moving away from religion, tradition, and ethnocentrism to embracing more secular, liberal, and egalitarian values. Ordinary citizens in today’s Arab world are more tolerant towards non-Muslims, Americans, and other Westerners more than ever before. They support recognizing Israel as a state at a rate previously unprecedented in the region. Arabs are politically, socially, and culturally more liberal than they have been in the twentieth century. Evidence from the World Values Survey and Arab Barometer clearly convey this observable value change in the region. Underlying causes for this change are arguably due to macro, mezzo, and micro-level changes in peoples’ lives resulting from increased modernization and globalization compared to earlier periods. This confirms earlier findings from Western Europe and North America which propose that social transformation processes yield predictable changes in values among mass publics.
152992304
Public Opinion in the Middle East: Survey Research and the Political Orientations of Ordinary Citizens
Acknowledgments Introduction: Public Opinion Research in the Arab and Muslim Middle East Part One Domestic Politics 1. Regime Orientation and Participant Citizenship in Developing Countries: Hypotheses and a Test with Longitudinal Data from Tunisia (1981) / Mark Tessler and Patricia Freeman 2. The Origins of Popular Support for Islamist Movements: A Political Economy Analysis (1997) / Mark Tessler 3. Islam and Democracy in the Middle East: The Impact of Religious Orientations on Attitudes toward Democracy in Four Arab Countries (2002) / Mark Tessler 4. Political Generations in Developing Countries: Evidence and Insights from Algeria (2004) / Mark Tessler, Carrie Konold and Megan Reif 5. The Democracy Barometers: Attitudes in the Arab World (2008) Amaney Jamal and Mark Tessler Part Two Political Culture and Islam 6. Political Culture in Turkey: Connections among Attitudes toward Democracy, the Military, and Islam (2004) / Mark Tessler and Ebru Altinoglu 7. Assessing the Influence of Religious Predispositions on Citizen Orientations Related to Governance and Democracy: Findings from Survey Research in Three Dissimilar Arab Societies (2006) / Mark Tessler 8. Democracy and the Political Culture Orientations of Ordinary Citizens: A Typology for the Arab World and Perhaps Beyond (2009) / Mark Tessler and Eleanor Gao Part Three International Conflict 9. Gender, Feminism, and Attitudes toward International Conflict: Exploring Relationships with Survey Data from the Middle East (1997) / Mark Tessler and Ina Warriner 10. Islam and Attitudes toward International Conflict: Evidence from Survey Research in the Arab World (1998) / Mark Tessler and Jodi Nachtwey 11. Further Tests of the Women and Peace Hypothesis: Evidence from Cross-National Survey Research in the Middle East (1999) / Mark Tessler, Jodi Nachtwey and Audra Grant 12. The Political Economy of Attitudes toward Peace among Palestinians and Israelis (2002) / Jodi Nachtwey and Mark Tessler 13. What Leads Some Ordinary Men and Women in Arab Countries to Approve of Terrorist Acts against the West: Evidence from Survey Research in Algeria and Jordan (2007) / Mark Tessler and Michael D. H. Robbins Bibliography Index
154016515
Political Attitude Research in the Arab World: Emerging Opportunities
This essay describes two very different survey projects that investigate the political attitudes, values, and behavior patterns of ordinary men and women in the Arab world. One is the Arab Democracy Barometer, an American-Arab collaborative project being carried out in five countries. The other is a survey in Palestine conducted as part of the fieldwork for a doctoral dissertation. These projects illustrate the emerging opportunities for political attitude research in the Arab world. The essay begins, however, with a brief reflection on the history of political surveys in the Arab world, which is necessary to appreciate the significance of the opportunities now emerging.
152422482
Mapping policy preferences II : estimates for parties, electors, and governments in Eastern Europe, European Union, and OECD 1990-2003
PART I: PARTIES AND REPRESENTATION IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EUROPEAN UNION 1. Uniquely! Over-Time Mapping of Party Policy Movements in Central and Eastern Europe 1990-2003 2. Beyond the Left-Right Dimension: Policy Profiles and Programmatic Coherence of Party Groupings in the European Parliament 3. A Common Space for Electoral Communication? Comparing Party and Voter Placements on a Left-Right Continuum in Western Europe and the CEE PART II: METHODOLOGY AND MEASUREMENT 4. Evaluating Validity with the Standard Left-Right Scale: Matching Measurements to Conceptual Intentions 5. Information or Error? Reliability of Policy Time series 6. Quantifying Policy Emphases in Texts Using the CMP Approach: Comparisons with Alternative Approaches. 7. Exploiting Manifesto Estimates of the Median for Multi-Level Analysis: Relating Electoral, Legislative and Government Policy Preferences 8. Using the Data
154593159
Social Cleavages and the Number of Parties
This article explores the issues surrounding the operationalization and measurement of social cleavages in a large-N context from the perspective of the party systems literature. It first highlights the difficulty of measuring the concept, which it argues has impeded hypothesis testing, and suggests strategies for improving upon existing measures. It then demonstrates that the conclusions we draw about well-known hypotheses linking social cleavages to the number of electoral parties in legislative elections depend upon the measure we employ. Hence, the article makes the case that how we measure social cleavages matters.
154038581
Bootstrap Confidence Regions for Multidimensional Scaling Solutions
Multidimensional scaling (or MDS) is a methodology for producing geometric models of proximities data. Multidimensional scaling has a long history in political science research. However, most applications of MDS are purely descriptive, with no attempt to assess stability or sampling variability in the scaling solution. In this article, we develop a bootstrap resampling strategy for constructing confidence regions in multidimensional scaling solutions. The methodology is illustrated by performing an inferential multidimensional scaling analysis on data from the 2004 American National Election Study (ANES). The bootstrap procedure is very simple, and it is adaptable to a wide variety of MDS models. Our approach enhances the utility of multidimensional scaling as a tool for testing substantive theories while still retaining the flexibility in assumptions, model details, and estimation procedures that make MDS so useful for exploring structure in data.
158848138
The KOF Globalisation Index – revisited
We introduce the revised version of the KOF Globalisation Index, a composite index measuring globalization for every country in the world along the economic, social and political dimension. The original index was introduced by Dreher (Applied Economics, 38(10):1091–1110, 2006) and updated in Dreher et al. (2008). This second revision of the index distinguishes between de facto and de jure measures along the different dimensions of globalization. We also disentangle trade and financial globalization within the economic dimension of globalization and use time-varying weighting of the variables. The new index is based on 43 instead of 23 variables in the previous version. Following Dreher (Applied Economics, 38(10):1091–1110, 2006), we use the new index to examine the effect of globalization on economic growth. The results suggest that de facto and de jure globalization influence economic growth differently. Future research should use the new KOF Globalisation Index to re-examine other important consequences of globalization and why globalization was proceeding rapidly in some countries, such as South Korea, but less so in others. The KOF Globalisation Index can be downloaded from http://www.kof.ethz.ch/globalisation/.
53117269
Using Subject-Matter Experts to Assess Content Representation: An MDS Analysis
Demonstration of content domain representation is of central importance in test validation. An expanded version of the method of content evaluation proposed by Sireci & Geisinger (1992) was evaluated with respect to a national licensure examination and a nationally standardized social studies achievement test. Two groups of 15 subject-matter experts (SMEs) rated the similarity of all item pairs comprising a test, and then rated the relevance of the items to the con tent domains listed in the test blueprints. The similar ity ratings were analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS); the item relevance ratings were ana lyzed using procedures proposed by Hambleton (1984) and Aiken (1980). The SMES' perceptions of the underlying content structures of the tests emerged in the MDS solutions. All dimensions were germane to the content domains measured by the tests. Some of these dimensions were consistent with the content structure specified in the test blueprint, others were not. Correlation and regression analyses of the MDS item coordinates and item relevance ratings indicated that using both item similarity and item relevance data provided greater information of content repre sentation than did using either approach alone. The implications of the procedure for test validity are dis cussed and suggestions for future research are provided.
123350066
Modern Multidimensional Scaling: Theory and Applications
Fundamentals of MDS.- The Four Purposes of Multidimensional Scaling.- Constructing MDS Representations.- MDS Models and Measures of Fit.- Three Applications of MDS.- MDS and Facet Theory.- How to Obtain Proximities.- MDS Models and Solving MDS Problems.- Matrix Algebra for MDS.- A Majorization Algorithm for Solving MDS.- Metric and Nonmetric MDS.- Confirmatory MDS.- MDS Fit Measures, Their Relations, and Some Algorithms.- Classical Scaling.- Special Solutions, Degeneracies, and Local Minima.- Unfolding.- Unfolding.- Avoiding Trivial Solutions in Unfolding.- Special Unfolding Models.- MDS Geometry as a Substantive Model.- MDS as a Psychological Model.- Scalar Products and Euclidean Distances.- Euclidean Embeddings.- MDS and Related Methods.- Procrustes Procedures.- Three-Way Procrustean Models.- Three-Way MDS Models.- Modeling Asymmetric Data.- Methods Related to MDS.
120849755
Multidimensional scaling: I. Theory and method
Multidimensional scaling can be considered as involving three basic steps. In the first step, a scale of comparative distances between all pairs of stimuli is obtained. This scale is analogous to the scale of stimuli obtained in the traditional paired comparisons methods. In this scale, however, instead of locating each stimulus-object on a given continuum, the distances between each pair of stimuli are located on a distance continuum. As in paired comparisons, the procedures for obtaining a scale of comparative distances leave the true zero point undetermined. Hence, a comparative distance is not a distance in the usual sense of the term, but is a distance minus an unknown constant. The second step involves estimating this unknown constant. When the unknown constant is obtained, the comparative distances can be converted into absolute distances. In the third step, the dimensionality of the psychological space necessary to account for these absolute distances is determined, and the projections of stimuli on axes of this space are obtained. A set of analytical procedures was developed for each of the three steps given above, including a least-squares solution for obtaining comparative distances by the complete method of triads, two practical methods for estimating the additive constant, and an extension of Young and Householder's Euclidean model to include procedures for obtaining the projections of stimuli on axes from fallible absolute distances.
153530013
Political Conflict in Western Europe
Part I. Theory and Methods: 1. The transformative power of globalization and the structure of political conflict in Western Europe Edgar Grande and Hanspeter Kriesi 2. Exploring the new cleavage across arenas and public debates: design and methods Martin Dolezal, Swen Hutter and Bruno Wuest Part II. The Development of the 'Integration-Demarcation' Cleavage: 3. Participation and party choice: comparing the demand-side of the new cleavage across arenas Martin Dolezal and Swen Hutter 4. Restructuring the national political space: the supply side of national electoral politics Hanspeter Kriesi 5. Restructuring the European political space: the supply side of European electoral politics Martin Dolezal 6. Restructuring protest politics: the terrain of cultural winners Swen Hutter 7. Congruence, counterweight, or different logics? Comparing electoral and protest politics Swen Hutter Part III. Public Debates: The Articulation of the New Cleavage in Detail: 8. The impact of arenas in public debates over globalization Marc Helbling, Dominic Hoglinger and Bruno Wuest 9. Culture versus economy: the framing of public debates over issues related to globalization Dominic Hoglinger, Bruno Wuest and Marc Helbling 10. Actor configurations in the public debates on globalization Bruno Wuest, Marc Helbling and Dominic Hoglinger Part IV. Conclusion: 11. Conclusion: how much change can we observe and what does it mean? Edgar Grande.
144333801
Rhetoric and Ideology in Egypt’s Wasaiyya Movement
Islamic centrism (Wasaiyya) is commonly presented as an open-minded and dialogue-oriented form of Islamism. This article questions that view by analyzing texts written by two prominent centrists: Muammad ‘Ammāra and Fahmī Huwaydī. Focusing on rhetorical techniques, the article argues that their texts are characterized by aggressive polemics not conducive to pluralist public debate. While relying heavily on barrages of rhetorical questions and implicit arguments, they avoid serious discussion of difficult issues. These characteristics of their texts are brought out by a discourse analysis based on modern text linguistics, specifically Functional Grammar as developed by Michael Halliday. This approach to Islamism is new and helps explaining why centrism, despite its professed open-mindedness, has failed both to defuse the high ideological tension in contemporary Egyptian debates about Islam in society and to contribute to bringing those debates forward.
204893795
Islamisation in Eastern EuropeA case study of Arraid in Ukraine
The concept of Wasaṭiyya (from al-wasaṭ, middle, in Arabic) has been increasingly promoted in recent years. Originating from the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwān alMuslimūn), it is often referred to as ‘Islamic centrism’ and Yūsuf al-Qaradāwī is featured as its major proponent. The stress is on presenting Islam as a moderate and adaptable religion, with focus on families and social participation. The Wasaṭiyya ideas found a fertile ground in some surprising contexts. An example is Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox country in Eastern Europe. Arraid, a group purporting these principles of Wasaṭiyya, has been gaining influence there among the local Muslim community as well as among non-Muslims.
147138220
“Islamic Moderation” in Perspectives: A Comparison Between Oriental and Occidental Scholarships
‘Islamic moderation’ has received a great deal of academic and media attention both in the West and in the East. Yet, the denotation of the very term still remains abundantly paradoxical as different regions and contexts provide different sheds of meanings. In the western scholarship, Islamic moderation is concerned with liberal social norms, hermeneutics, political pluralism, democratic process, organizational affinities, and views of state legitimacy over the monopoly of violence, some kind of adaptation, willingness to cooperate or compromise. However, it is by no means exhaustive as its definition in Islamic scholarship provides some unlike constituents. To define moderation, Muslim scholars, firstly explores to lexical meanings of its Arabic substitute “wasatiyyah”. Secondly, they explore the textual meanings of the word “wasatiyyah” used in the orthodox text i.e the Quran and traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). According to them, moderation is a best suited, justly balanced or middle position between two extremes i.e. extremism and laxity. Their use of the term, is contextualized in terms of counter-extremism, modest socio-religious behaviour and temperate legal position. This research finds out a considerable textual and contextual difference in the use of the term ‘Islamic moderation’ between the East and the West. Hence, this study aims to explore the lack of integration between both scholarships in this issue.
151816958
The Strong Egypt Party: representing a progressive/democratic Islamist party?
Islamist parties espouse a socio-political platform that rests on the notion of creating an Islamic order and the application of the Islamic Sharia as a normative/legal and authoritative power structure. Progressive/Democratic Islamists is a term coined by some scholars to account for the emergence of new actors within the Islamic ranks starting from the 1990s in several Middle Eastern countries including Iran, Turkey, Egypt and North African countries. These actors depart from authoritarian political interpretations of Islamic texts, calling for a rationalist interpretation of Islamic idioms emphasizing the compatibility of Islam with democracy, pluralism, human rights and grassroots empowerment. This article analyzes the case of the Strong Egypt party (SEP) in the wake of the 2011 uprising in Egypt. It problematizes the identity of the party and its location in the ideological and political spectrum in Egypt. The article argues that the SEP claims a mixture of cultural conservatism, economic progressivism and political democracy, but that this mixture suffers from lack of depth, sophistication and a genuine social constituency and project.
150555187
Salafis and Sufis in Egypt
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151548505
Laughing Through Change: Subversive Humor in Online Videos of Arab Youth
Arab youth seek ways to subvert authority and redefine identity in the somewhat less supervised spaces of online humor. As Arab states tighten their grip on youth for fear of dissent, their youth are exploring other means for social change at the murky boundaries between jokes and insults, seriousness and frivolity. This study argues that the interplay between parental and political authorities complicates their attempts at political change and demands an analysis of resistance at both the cultural and political levels. With a focus on Egypt and Jordan, this study uses a qualitative thematic analysis of satirical online videos to examine instances of disguised dissent and consciousness-raising among youth away from closed-off public spaces.
1606103
Islamic Culture and Democracy: Testing the 'Clash of Civilizations' Thesis
In seeking to understand the root causes of the events of 9/11 many accounts have turned to Samuel P. Huntington's provocative and controversial thesis of a 'clash of civilizations', arousing strong debate. Evidence from the 1995-2001 waves of the World Values Survey/European Values Survey (WVS/EVS) allows us, for the first time, to examine an extensive body of empirical evidence relating to this debate. Comparative analysis of the beliefs and values of Islamic and non-Islamic publics in 75 societies around the globe, confirms the first claim in Huntington's thesis: culture does matter, and indeed matters a lot, so that religious legacies leave a distinct imprint on contemporary values. But Huntington is mistaken in assuming that the core clash between the West and Islamic worlds concerns democracy. The evidence suggests striking similarities in the political values held in these societies. It is true that Islamic publics differ from Western publics concerning the role of religious leadership in society, but this is not a simple dichotomous clash — many non-Islamic societies side with the Islamic ones on this issue. Moreover the Huntington thesis fails to identify the most basic cultural fault line between the West and Islam, which concerns the issues of gender equality and sexual liberalization. The cultural gulf separating Islam from the West involves Eros far more than Demos.
53594189
Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide
Part I. Understanding Secularization: 1. The secularization debate 2. Measuring secularization 3. Comparing secularization worldwide Part II. Case Studies of Religion and Politics: 4. The puzzle of secularization in the United States and Western Europe 5. A religious revival in post-communist Europe? 6. Religion and politics in the Muslim world Part III. The Consequences of Secularization: 7. Religion, the Protestant ethic, and moral values 8. Religious organizations and social capital 9. Religious parties and electoral behavior Part IV. Conclusions: 10. Secularization and its consequences 11. Re-examining the theory of existential security 12. Re-examining evidence for the security thesis.