Government Reactions Research Articles

1950-60년대 인도네시아의 정치 변화와 수카르노의 “혁명”

In the mid-1950s, Indonesian society suffered from political conflicts and economic downfall in the context of regional rebellions and the Cold War. As a solution to these problems, Sukarno, the 1st president of Indonesia, suggested the return to the “Revolution (Revolusi).” In Indonesian history, Revolution refers to the anti-Dutch struggle for independence in 1945-49. Sukarno explicated that the Revolution was not over yet and the revolutionary spirit should be revived to accomplish the goal of Indonesian nation for an independent state, social justice, and a new international order. He suggested a new political system called “Guided Democracy” as an alternative to parliamentary democracy, which was often criticized as an western system unsuitable for Indonesian society. Under this system the political power was concentrated on the president, while political parties and parliaments were dissembles or transformed according to the governmental policy. Two political powers, the military forces and the communist party, grew rapidly in the absence of powerful parties, and the Guided Democracy was operated through the interplay between these two groups, while Sukarno working as an powerful arbiter between the two. However, increasing conflicts between the two archrivals eventually led to the collapse of the system and the emergence of Suharto’s “New Order.” The New Order abandoned the quest for Revolution, and was completely different from Sukarno’s government in its economic goals and international relations. Yet its basic political system - such as enormous power of the president and the role of functional groups – was inherited from Sukarno’s Guided Democracy. Ironically, the practices of a revolutionary political leader contributed to emergence of a most reactionary government.

The Small Republic and the Great Power: Censorship between Geneva and France in the Later Eighteenth Century

During the 1700s, French-language texts were produced, disseminated and read across much of Europe. This article examines the French government's reaction to the production of literature beyond France's borders, specifically in the republic of Geneva. The French government exercised surveillance over the Genevan print trade and tried to curb the spread of contentious material. The Genevan government responded with a blend of cooperation and resistance. This collaboration between France and Geneva can give us a more precise understanding of both international relations and the workings of censorship. The complexities of imposing censorship on an international scale necessitated a flexible approach; one which ultimately focused on the suppression of a limited corpus of primarily political material. The extension of censorship beyond borders was not simple, nor was it wholly successful. Nevertheless, this limited form of censorship had a discernible impact on the availability of information in eighteenth-century Europe.

Censoring the Press: A Barometer of Government Tolerance for Anti-regime Dissent under Authoritarian Rule

This paper proposes that dissident leaders aiming to build mass opposition movements follow the mainstream press to help them gauge government tolerance for anti-government mass actions in repressive authoritarian regimes. Under conditions of censorship, media–state interactions serve as a barometer of the government's disposition toward and capacity to impede public displays of dissent. Observing trends in coverage and the government's reaction to this coverage helps activist leaders assess when it should be safest to plan anti-government mass actions, such as demonstrations, marches, or strikes. Using original data derived from coding content from the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo over the period of 1974–1982, I test whether opposition mass actions followed trends in taboo content and government treatment of the press during the period of political liberalization of Brazil's military regime.

An Ubuntu-based Evaluation of the South African State's Responses to Marikana: Where's the Reconciliation?

In this work of normative political philosophy, I consider the ethical status of the South African government's responses to the Marikana massacre, where police shot and killed more than 30 striking miners, in light of a moral principle grounded on values associated with ubuntu. I argue that there are several respects in which the government's reactions have been unethical from an ubuntu-oriented perspective, and also make positive suggestions about what it instead should have been doing. Much of what I recommend amounts to contending that the government should have taken resolute steps towards seeking reconciliation of a specific sort that I show follows from ubuntu interpreted as an ethical theory.

Historical Consequences of Colonialism, Disempowerment, and Reactionary Government Decisions in Relation to Imprisonment Rates in Australia’s Northern Territory: A Potential Solution

The Northern Territory (N.T.) of Australia has the highest imprisonment rate per capita in the country. The vast majority of prisoners (86%) are Indigenous Australian despite only 30% of the N.T. population identifying as Indigenous. This paper investigates factors influencing this over-representation. The most common reason for imprisonment concerns violence. Alcohol is consumed in high quantities, particularly in Central Australia and is thought to affect incarceration rates. Recent strategies to control alcohol abuse in the N.T. have been ineffective in comparison with other states of Australia. Notwithstanding that crimes committed are serious enough to warrant arrest, the cumulative effects of past and recent history have resulted in poor educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian children which influence employment opportunities. Solutions to reduce imprisonment must address the nexus between education, meaningful employment and community-led alcohol management strategies. Failure to adopt this approach may perpetuate ever-increasing imprisonment of Indigenous Australians.

Radiation and Regulation in a Post-Fukushima World.

The nuclear reactor accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant in March 2011 led to a loss of trust in nuclear power around the globe and acutely in Japan. The reactions of the public in Japan and other countries, such as the United States, and the governmental reactions to the accident offer an opportunity to learn ways to improve safety and communication during and after a nuclear accident.

Fenianism’s Bermuda Footprint: Revolutionary Nationalism in the Victorian Empire

Fenianism’s Bermuda Footprint:Revolutionary Nationalism in the Victorian Empire* Jerome Devitt (bio) Although such rumours are frequently groundless or are set afloat to cover other schemes, or so flatter the conceit of the plotters by exciting alarms, it would be well, considering the desperate wickedness of some of the Fenian outrages, that our people should be well on their guard, and that the proceedings of all unaccredited strangers arriving among us should be carefully watched lest our apparent security should encourage or beget the conception of such a design. Bermuda Royal Gazette, 14 February 1882 In 1882 the Bermuda Royal Gazette published an article under the headline “Fenian Plots” that identified continual threats posed by Irish American nationalists to the tiny mid-Atlantic islands of Bermuda. These threats included the “frequently groundless” plot of the Irish Republican Union (IRU) to rescue John Mitchel, the prominent Young Ireland revolutionary and political journalist, from the prison hulks off the Bermudian coast; the circulation of misinformation by the Fenian Brotherhood to “cover other schemes” such as the invasion of Canada in 1866; and the attempted “Fenian outrages” of the dynamiters that had become prevalent in Britain in the first half of the 1880s. Although none of these plots materialized, they nevertheless had a profound impact on the geostrategically significant island colony. By examining the cumulative impact of these schemes, this essay will demonstrate the previously unacknowledged significance of Bermuda to Irish American revolutionaries [End Page 141] throughout the Victorian period and contribute to the growing historiography suggesting that the strategic outlook of Fenianism was more geographically ambitious than traditional scholarship has recognized.1 While this scholarly approach has been successful in broadening the scope of inquiry and shifting the focus away from individuals and organizations and toward the impact of Fenianism on the broader Atlantic world,2 its concentration has largely been on mainland North America and the Canadian Maritimes.3 By widening this geographic range further to include other Atlantic spaces such as Bermuda, it is possible to examine traditional revolutionary attempts to attack the empire by members of the diaspora in parallel with implicit aspects of Irish imperial experience in the guise of those who defended it from within. Bermuda in this instance thus provides a point of intersection between the formal British empire and the “counter-empire” suggested by Máirtín Ó Catháin.4 In choosing Bermuda as the focal point, I aim to consider what Barry Crosbie has called the [End Page 142] “cross-cultural experiences, ideologies, institutions, and personnel” that were integral to Irish involvement in the British imperial project.5 This essay also argues that Irish physical-force nationalism had a broader political utility for Bermuda’s colonial administrators and their counterparts at Westminster that was centered on the appropriation of imperial resources. Fear of anticolonialism, invasion, and terrorism served a vital function for those administrators, allowing them to significantly upgrade Bermuda’s defensive infrastructure. Central to this discussion is the acknowledgment of the marked disparity between the rhetoric used to dismiss Fenianism and the actual measures taken to meet those potential threats. Any assessment of governmental reactions to Fenianism must consider both of these aspects—rhetoric and reaction. The precise nature of the actions described highlights not only the primacy of the naval responses to imperial threats but also the way in which Irish American revolutionaries viewed the empire in specifically naval and transnational terms. Three interrelated lines of inquiry will be developed here. First, an exploration will be offered of the breadth of interactions between Ireland and Bermuda, particularly along institutional lines. This is designed to serve as a baseline against which the threats can be contextualized within both the imperial and the Atlantic world. The essay will then consider the precise nature of the various threats against Bermuda in order to establish the different ways in which revolutionary Irish nationalists sought to exploit the island. Finally, a consideration will be offered of the civil, military, naval, and diplomatic networks activated by the British authorities across the Atlantic world to counter real and perceived threats to Bermuda. Bermuda, Ireland, and the British Atlantic While the two islands are...

Religiosity, Citizenship and Belonging: The Everyday Experiences of Young Australian Muslims

Since 11 September 2001 Muslim Diasporas have emerged as objects of anxiety in Western societies. Underlying this (in)security-driven problematisation is the question of whether Muslims living in the West have the capacity to become fully active citizens while maintaining their religious beliefs, rituals and practices. This apprehension has prompted reactionary government programmes, particularly targeting young Muslims. Such responses fail to recognise the societal capacities that practising Muslims possess, including those informed by the ethical precepts of Islamic faith. This paper argues that it is timely to explore expressions of Islamic religiosity as they are grounded in everyday multicultural environments. The paper draws on survey data and interviews conducted with Muslims living in Melbourne, Australia. We take into consideration key variables of age and generation to highlight how young, practising Muslims enact citizenship through Islamic rituals and faith-based practices and traditions. The paper will draw from key findings to argue that these performances provide a foundation for exploring ways of ‘living’ together in a manner that privileges ethics central to Islamic faith traditions.

Returning to Presumptions and the Erosion of Fundamental Rights

This article considers the amendments to the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) which alter the way bail decisions are made. The Bail Amendment Bill 2014 (NSW) was passed on 17 September 2014 and the Bail Amendment Act 2014 (NSW) was assented to on 25 September 2014. This article argues that these amendments represent the perpetuation of punitive bail policy which, among other things, effectively reintroduces a scheme of presumptions against bail. It is further argued that the government's reaction to a minority of public opinion coupled with the erosion of the presumption of innocence and the general right to be at liberty, demonstrates the recurrence of similar factors which led to significant and multiple amendments to the Bail Act 1978 (NSW). The article begins by outlining the amendments to the Bail Act 1978 which expanded the list of offences for which there was a presumption against bail and the circumstances in which these amendments were made. The enactment of the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) is then considered with a focus on how the provisions of this Act simplified the law and restored fundamental principles in bail decisions. This is followed by a discussion of the factors which led to the current reforms and detailed consideration of how the amending Act reintroduces a scheme of presumptions against bail and undermines the rights of an accused person.

Game Changer: The Impact of 9/11 on North American Security, by Jonathan Paquin and Patrick James, eds.

Jonathan Paquin and Patrick James, eds. Game Changer: The Impact of 9/11 on North American Security Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2014. 310 pp., $95.00 (cloth) $34.95 (paper) ISBN 978-0-7748-2706-5 (cloth): 978-0-2707-2 (paper)When I attended high school in Michigan in the early 1980s, students accepted that our US history classes would delve deeply into the causes and consequences of the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the world wars of the twentieth century before touching lightly on the Korean War and the Cold War more generally. As the end of the school year approached, however, we knew that we would run out of time before getting to the Vietnam War. For our teachers, that war, which was ongoing when we were born and entering elementary school, was too painful and too personal. Some of our parents were veterans of the conflict, which led to sharply divided opinions within the country, and many of us knew someone who had died in the war.Something similar seems to have happened when it comes to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington-events that have profoundly affected and reshaped the relationships between the US, Canada, and Mexico. Just like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 9/11 engendered political division and ongoing controversies that linger today, 20 years after NAFTA and more than a decade since the World Trade Center fell.In the spring of 2012, I had the honour of co-teaching a course on US relations with Canada and Mexico at American University's School of International Service with the late Robert Pastor. Bob was one of the leading US scholars to address North American integration, its shortcomings and latent potential, most notably in his last book. The North American Idea (Oxford University Press, 2011). I sat beside Bob as he revisited the 1993 televised debate between then-vice president Al Gore and former presidential candidate Ross Perot, and presented a careful rebuttal of points made by CNN host Lou Dobbs. Yet, as we came to the events of September 2001, apart from a few choice words about President George W. Bush, it was a challenge for either of us to put these attacks, which had been among the formative events of our students' childhoods, into any kind of theoretical or scholarly perspective. These events were painful to us. We knew people who had died in the attacks and in the wars that followed in Afghanistan and Iraq. So we spoke of the border, wait times, and Mexican migration.Game Changer, edited by Jonathan Paquin and Patrick James, provides readers with what Bob and I laboured to give our students. The book is a collection of sparkling and provocative essays by leading scholars from across North America, including Mexico, on 9/11's impact on North American security.Paquin and James include four excellent theoretical chapters to lead off the volume. Charles F. Doran of Johns Flopkins University employs realism and his own power-cycle theory in a chapter that questions whether 9/11 was a watershed moment for the North American continent as a whole. Dalhousie University's Frank Harvey considers the political psychology and bargaining strategies of public attitudes and political and governmental reactions. …

An Analysis of the Governmental Reaction to the Technical Environment and Institutional Environment

An Analysis of the Governmental Reaction to the Technical Environment and Institutional Environment

From a Garbage Can to a Compost Model of Decision‐Making? Social Policy Reform and the Czech Government's Reaction to the International Financial Crisis

AbstractThis article argues that the financial crisis did not have a strong impact on Czech social policy. In contrast to the garbage‐can model, in which policymakers wait for a ‘window of opportunity’ to implement radical reforms, the Czech centre‐right parties instead used the crisis as a means of continuing their market‐liberal reforms that they had initiated before the crisis had even begun. Since they had extremely little public support for their reforms, they tried to bring about gradual change. Thus, instead of pulling radical reforms out of the garbage‐can, Czech right‐wing politicians have tended to take out smaller biodegradable goods that can decay and compost into fertile ground in order to sow the seeds of gradual change.

Reconciling policy dissonance: patterns of governmental response to policy noncompliance

Noncompliance is most often understood in the public policy literature as a problem of implementation and enforcement. Yet, this perhaps normative focus misses the role of noncompliance as a source of policy change. To demonstrate this unexplored role, this study conceptualizes noncompliance and subsequent governmental responses as an interactive, ongoing process, in which noncompliance may gain social acceptance and governmental reaction changes over time. Manifestations of noncompliance in health (immunization refusal, needle exchange programs), education (homeschooling), policing (community police), drug use (decriminalization of marijuana) and urban services (community gardening) suggest that governmental reaction is a dynamic, developing process, constituting a series of responses influenced by social acceptance of noncompliance and by the latter’s implications. Each response may take on one of four patterns of legitimization: embracement (legitimization), adaptation (reluctant legitimization), acceptance (implicit legitimization) and stricter enforcement (delegitimization). A more nuanced portrayal of the interaction between noncompliance and governmental reaction emphasizes a reciprocal relationship between policy makers and policy targets.

Service Personalization as a Response to Noncompliance with Routine Childhood Vaccination

Governmental reaction to citizens’ noncompliance with policy is often portrayed as a retrospective enforcement effort, in which incentives and information serve as the main mechanisms to change citizens’ noncompliant behavior. This study suggests that government may adapt existing policy arrangements to encourage compliance rather than enforce implementation. Such responses recognize that noncompliance is an ongoing decision‐making process rather than a single event, with scope for government intervention at different points. Drawing on toddlers’ nonvaccination in Israel as a test case, findings indicate that to minimize noncompliance and its public health implications, officials have responded by personalizing the standardized service. Personalization is a pragmatic response that recognizes that hesitant parents may be amenable to modified interventions as an alternative to complete exit. Nevertheless, personalization challenges the very notion of a public health intervention based on a standard protocol and raises new dilemmas around where private responsibilities end and public ones begin.

Implications of Yuan/dollar exchange rate for trade

PurposeThough an undervalued Yuan is not the only factor that contributes to the US bilateral trade deficit with China, it is widely accepted as being one of the leading factors. The heightened debate over the value of the Yuan may lead to “beggar thy neighbour” retaliation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical review of the Y/$ exchange rate movements, review the US congressional bills to revalue the Y/$ exchange rate and Chinese Government's reactions, presents a conceptual analysis of the effect of the undervalued Yuan on trade between China, the USA, and competitors, and discuss the arguments for and against revaluation of the Yuan.Design/methodology/approachConceptual analysis graphically illustrates how the undervalued Yuan affects world trade and shows the benefits and losses for various countries.FindingsThough an undervalued Yuan is not the only factor that contributes to the US bilateral trade deficit with China, it is widely accepted as being one of the leading factors. Due to its effects on production, consumption, and trade, a solution is needed. Although measuring the exact misalignment of the Chinese currency has led to various results, it is generally agreed that the Yuan is undervalued, and the US Congress has been persistent in introducing various bills to tackle the problems arising from the undervalued Yuan. Arguments for and against revaluation has heightened debate which may lead to “beggar thy neighbour” retaliation.Originality/valueThis paper outlines very timely and pretentious trade issues between China and the USA and contributes to the area of research of exchange rate effects on international trade.

Fukushima: impacts and implications

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 had massive impacts on Japan and led Japan, and many other countries, to change their energy policies. Some adopted nuclear phase-out plans, focusing instead on renewable energy - led by Germany- thus joining Austria, Denmark, Ireland and other anti-nuclear EU countries. Even heavily nuclear-reliant France began to consider a phase out, while some developing countries in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific area rethought their nuclear plans. This book reviews what happened at Fukushima and its global impacts. It looks in detail at public and governmental reactions as the scale of the disaster became clear, and at the social, environmental, economic, technological and political implications in Japan and worldwide. It asks whether, despite continued government backing for nuclear in the UK, China, India, Russia and the USA, growing opposition to nuclear power around the world means the end for the global nuclear renaissance.

Cyberactivism in the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions: Potentials, limitations, overlaps and divergences

Abstract This article discusses the role of ‘cyberactivism’ or the role played by new media in paving the way for political transformation, in both the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions of 2011. It starts with a discussion of the potentials of cyberactivism in both of these revolutions, especially how these new types of social media can act as effective tools for supporting the capabilities of the democratic activists by allowing forums for free speech and political networking opportunities; providing a virtual space for assembly; supporting the capability of the protestors to plan, organize and execute peaceful protests, while documenting the protests and governmental reactions to them; and providing forums for collaboration between the Tunisian and the Egyptian activists. It also sheds light on some of the limitations of the role of social media in both of these revolutions and highlights some of the overlaps and divergences between the role of cyberactivism in both of them, through comparing the similarities and differences in contexts, actors and tools.

The Birth of an “Other Politics” in Venezuela

Moving beyond the well-worn evaluations of the Venezuelan political situation (for or against Hugo Chávez), this essay sets out to describe the various currents and positions within the Bolivarian camp as well as its increasingly uncertain future in the electoral realm. Roland Denis looks beyond those in political office and their likely troubled future in order to find that underneath the Bolivarian veneer an entirely “Other politics” is in the process of gestation. From the self-organized actions for workers' control in Cumanacoa and Maracaibo to the struggle of Chief Sabino and the Yukpa people, these new political actors have developed strategies of “territorial liberation” that are capable of strengthening new subjectivities and identities that make themselves felt in larger and larger social spaces. These are also subjects, Denis suggests, that if forced to confront openly reactionary governments will be prepared to do so.

The “Global War on Terror,” Identity, and Changing Perceptions: Iraqi Responses to America's War in Iraq

For many years opposition to US foreign policy has frequently been interpreted by cultural commentators and the wider media as “anti-Americanism.” Such “anti-Americanism” has been situated as dangerous, irrational and violent, and this apparent link has been reinforced continuously since 9/11. However, by making a reading of two Iraqi weblogs which have gained significant recognition in Iraq and the West, this article challenges such a simplified definition of alternative perspectives on foreign policy as “anti-Americanism.” This article focusses on the blog entries of two Iraqis, Salam Pax and “Riverbend,” who lived in Baghdad throughout the Iraq War (2003–9) and during the subsequent years of civil unrest. It explores how their online responses to the US action in Iraq illustrate the complexity of perceived “anti-Americanism.” The bloggers do not situate themselves as “anti-American.” Instead they draw a clear distinction between opposition to US foreign policy and hostility towards America and its people, thus problematizing previous definitions of “anti-Americanism.” However, this article also recognizes that whilst these texts highlight this distinction, the negative impact of US foreign policy on Iraq since the occupation, coupled with the militarized image that America projects of itself, has caused the distinction between a disapproval of US foreign policy and an objection to US culture in broader terms to become increasingly blurred. Indeed, these narratives indicate that rather than situating 9/11 as the first move in a campaign of “anti-Americanism,” it could be argued that it is the American government's reaction to the attacks, and the impact of the subsequent occupation of Iraq, which acted as a catalyst for the growth of opposition to US foreign policy, and to some extent a rejection of US culture, in Iraq.

Oil on the water: Government regulation of a carcinogen in the twentieth-century Lancashire cotton spinning industry

In the Lancashire cotton textile industry, mule spinners were prone to a chronic and sometimes fatal skin cancer (often affecting the groin). The disease had reached epidemic proportions by the 1920s, which necessitated action by the government, employers, and trade unions. In contrast to previous accounts, this article focuses on the government's reaction to mule spinners' cancer. Using official records in the National Archives, the slow introduction of health and safety measures by the government is explored in detail. Although obstructionism by the employers played a key role, one of the reasons for government inaction was the ambiguity of scientific research on engineering oils. On the other hand, prolonged scientific research suited a government policy that was framed around self regulation – a policy that had proved largely ineffective by the 1950s.