Political History Research Articles

Analysis of the regimes of past presidents in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

ABSTRACT The period since May 1999 is the single-longest democratic dispensation of Nigeria since its emergence as a state in 1960. For the very first time in Nigeria’s political history, over the twenty-five-year period, government changes hands between one democratically elected president to another, and also among political parties peacefully, despite the multifarious challenges. The paper explores some peculiar issues that confronted the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua/Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari. The aim is to understand how each of them navigated the ship of state without allowing the political misfortunes that befell the three previous republics to be the fate of the fourth. The paper finds that, despite their individual inclinations and (in)capacities to govern, the four presidents generally behaved themselves as responsible citizens of democracy. The paper concludes that the fourth democratic regime subsists because the political wire-pullers of the most important ethnic groups perceive a common interest in its maintenance and furtherance.

Historical policy of communist Romania in the opinions of PPR diplomacy

The article proposes to look at the phenomenon of the historical politics of the authorities of communist Romania through the prism of opinions on this subject from the diplomacy, also communist, of the Polish People's Republic. It is about opinions of representatives of a state whose citizens during the communist period were not subjected to and did not succumb to such strong political indoctrination as in other satellite states of the Kremlin on the subject of a state which, from the 1960s onwards, conducted the most independent and distanced foreign politics from the Kremlin among these satellites and which went furthest among these states in instrumentally using historical politics and the often accompanying nationalism for political purposes. As the Polish observers have argued, the Romanian authorities saw in the image of Romanians and Romanian history created by them a valuable tool to shape for themselves the favor of society, its views and public sentiment depending on the political demand of the moment. It was most controversial among Poles, but supported by the Romanian public, that the Romanian authorities used history to more or less openly attack the Soviet Union in the name of defending their sovereignty. The Polish authorities also viewed with distance the theory deriving modern Romanians from the ancient Dacians and generally considered Romanian historiography to be biased and unreliable. In spite of the fall of communism, unlike in Poland, the picture of Romanian history shaped earlier, with a strong nationalist accent, is still readily accepted by Romanians.

Atlantic Slavery, the Catholic Church and Sanctity in the Early Modern Age

Abstract New forms of enslavement surfacing on the world stage have spurred an international surge of studies in recent decades on the topic of slavery in general and Atlantic slavery in particular. Italian historiography on the Early Modern Age has actively contributed to this body of work and suggested various avenues of research fueled by different perspectives, from intellectual history to social history, from political history to gender and labor history. As is fitting considering Christian universalism, much attention has been granted to the religious dimension of the phenomenon. Various issues have been addressed, from the Catholic Church’s role and culture to the roles played by individual religious orders, from conversion practices used among slaves to the creation of the “African pantheon” featuring former slaves who became saints. Taken together, these studies have helped to add complexity to our understanding of the relationship between Catholicism and Atlantic slavery and call into question the separation between Mediterranean and Atlantic slavery, two worlds that are actually closely intertwined. A focused analysis of the relationship between slavery and sanctity, explored through the case of Jesuit Pedro Claver who was born in Catalonia in 1580, became a missionary overseas and died in Cartagena de Indias (New Kingdom of Granada) in 1654, is effective in demonstrating the spatial and temporal scope of these events. This extensive scope calls for longer-term reflections that go beyond the Early Modern Age and recognize the inextricable connections between religious and political history.

Finding their Voices: The Young-Adult Poets of the Urdd National Eisteddfod

Very little scholarly research has been undertaken on literary competitions for children and young people despite their potential in shaping and developing young writers, a process which is especially important in ensuring the vitality of minority languages. In the Welsh language, like other minority languages, published literature by young authors is often generated and celebrated through literary competitions. One such competition is the Chair competition held at the Urdd National Eisteddfod, a Welsh-language youth festival attracting around 100,000 visitors annually. The Chair competition is a poetry competition, first held in 1951, and is one of the three main literary competitions for writers between 14 and 25 years of age. This article’s focus will be on the voices of the teenage or young-adult (YA) poets between the ages of 14-19 composing in a minority language, voices that are rarely heard. By exploring these YA responses to Wales and the world at critical junctures in Welsh political history, this research will provide a new way to engage with Welsh-language YA voices. Additionally, it will demonstrate the potential of using literary competitions as a lens through which to explore YA responses to a rapidly-changing Wales in terms of politics, language, and culture. In doing so, the article will also highlight how the Urdd’s main literary competitions have contributed to fostering young Welsh-language writers to ensure the future vitality of the language.

The Political Legacy of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1939–2024)

The article is devoted to the policies of Canadian Prime Minister Martin Brian Mulroney, who was in power from 1984 to 1993. The eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada, Mulroney is one of the most well-known leaders of the conservative wing of the Canadian political spectrum. He left a significant mark on the political history of Canada and on the development of Canadian-American relations. Mulroney is considered one of the most controversial prime ministers of Canada, with his tenure marked by both notable achievements and significant failures. The publication is based on the memoirs of contemporaries and the assessments of Russian and Canadian experts.

Miejsca napięć pamięci Zagłady w Polsce w kontekście tendencji we współczesnej Europie

SITES OF TENSION OF MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST IN POLAND IN THE CONTEXT OF TENDENCIES IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE Many researchers, among them Jacques Le Goff, have stressed the significance of memory of the past as a determinant in the struggle for power and in creating collective identities. This text evolved on the basis of qualitative studies undertaken in 2019‒2022 within the framework of the international research project “Sites of Tension: Shifts in Holocaust Memory in Relation to Antisemitism and Political Contestation in Europe” carried out by the University of Haifa in cooperation with five research teams from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Hungary, and Poland. The aim of the study, in which the author participated, was to examine contemporary tensions and conflicts related to memory of the Holocaust on the basis of analysis of political discourse, social media, and interviews with teachers. The text seeks answers to research questions about affinities and divergences between selected states, about recently emerging patterns in teaching about the Holocaust in the context of increasing historical politics in Poland, and about resistance to education programmes imposed by the authorities. The cases from the five selected European countries indicate how memory of the Holocaust serves expression of political attitudes and social identities.

The Curious Case of the Islamic Journeymen: Questions and Texts toward a Comparative Study of Guilds

Abstract Nearly a century after Bernard Lewis’ seminal article, much about craft guilds in Islamic societies remains unknown. Even less is known about journeymen, a stratum of hired workers who were neither apprentices nor master craftsmen. European thought and historiography—especially Marxism, under whose influence much of the works on guilds were written—ascribed to them an essential role in the history of labor and politics. In the Middle East, it is unclear whether such a position existed, when it emerged, whether it was imported, and under what conditions. When journeymen do seem to appear in the sources, it is still difficult to say whether they matched their Western European equivalents in conditions, demographics, aspirations, and political potential. These questions are crucial for comparing guilds, social structures, and life courses across time and space. At the heart of this dossier are six texts, which are also reproduced here in translation. These sources—a contemporary description and five works of historical scholarship written in Arabic, Serbian, Russian, Albanian, and Georgian—remain fundamental studies of guilds in the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The translations thus provide access to non-Anglophone scholarship. The accompanying article analyzes the historiography and puts these sources under scrutiny. It shows the limitations of imposing European models on Islamic guilds, including misinterpretations. Analyzing and contextualizing these interpretations reveals dynamics worth exploring, raises new questions, and revives old debates abandoned prematurely. These include the relationship between religious and craft associations, the management of young and mobile men, and the logic of industrial development in Europe, the Islamic World, and beyond.

State-Sponsored Qurʾanic Exegesis: a Comparative Analysis of Turkiye’s and Indonesia’s Official Tafsir

Abstract This research aims to analyze the official Tafsir in Turkiye and Indonesia within their respective socio-political contexts. Official Tafsir, such as “Kurʾan Yolu” in Turkiye and “Al-Qurʾan dan Tafsirnya” (QDT) in Indonesia, reflects state intervention in shaping religious discourse, differing from traditional Tafsir. This study identifies three main features of official Tafsir: exclusivity, collectivity, and responsiveness. The exclusivity in the official exegesis in both countries is influenced by the dominant madhhab (Hanafi in Turkiye and Shafiʾi in Indonesia), reflecting government efforts to standardize religious understanding in line with state interests. The research employs a comparative methodological approach, using primary data from official exegesis texts and secondary literature on political and cultural history in both countries. The findings indicate that official exegesis in Turkiye and Indonesia not only serves as a tool to maintain religious orthodoxy but also as an instrument for the state to address emerging social and legal issues. This study provides insights into the complex interplay between politics, culture, and religious interpretation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining inclusivity in religious discourse to meet the diverse needs of society.

Why is the extreme right everywhere? some notes

This is a translation of an essay by Alain Caillé originally published in French in La Revue du MAUSS. It addresses the topical issue of the global rise of the far right and examines its relation to traditional totalitarianism and democracy. It discovers paradoxes in the recent political history: the movement is a neoliberal reaction to neoliberalism. Instead of empowering progressive political appeal, economic conditions have driven people into the embrace of ‘tyrannical buffoons’ who promise the intensification of neoliberal reform. This leads to an ‘inverted totalitarianism’ or ‘parcellitarianism’.

Historical geographies of grid city development: Mandalay from Burma to Myanmar

This paper critiques Mandalay city's gridded urban development within historical urban geography, providing a non-Western perspective in an increasingly global field that transcends the Eurocentric paradigm of urban form. The study combines historical and spatial analysis, literature review, and interviews to understand how Mandalay's urban grid embodies the shifting political landscapes. King Mindon's original grid, drawn from Burmese astrology and Buddhism respectively to legitimize his ruling power and reinforce social class division. British rule shifted the grid towards administrative and economic exploitation. Under socialism, adaptations to Mandalay's grid and land redistribution efforts, while seemingly equitable, primarily benefited the elite rather than marginalized squatters. Subsequently, the State Law and Order Restoration Council manipulated the grid for real estate purposes, reflecting monarchical practices. Mandalay's grid serves as a physical expression of power and governance, symbolizing the city's evolving political landscape from Burmese kingship to contemporary Myanmar under a top-down governance system. This research enriches historical geography by revealing the interplay between political history, symbolism, and urban geographic development.

The “Illusion” of Childcare Reform: The Child Care Expense Deduction, Tax Expenditures, and Social Policy

In most historical work on Canadian childcare policy, the tax system is treated as an afterthought. This article does the opposite by considering the introduction and operation of the Child Care Expense Deduction (cced), introduced in 1971, as part of the history of childcare policy and politics. The cced had a significant impact on how childcare policy unfolded in the decades following its introduction. By offering cash transfers to some working parents, and disproportionately to higher-income families, the cced helped both to reinforce the idea that childcare was a private responsibility and to subsidize the private and for-profit childcare market. Over time, supported by a growing constituency of interests who benefited from tax breaks, the tax-based approach to childcare support became entrenched. The cced was among the combination of factors that helped forestall the possibility of a universal childcare program in Canada.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE ISSUE IN THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON OCTOBER 6-7 ATTACS AND INFORMATION WARFARE

ISRAEL-PALESTINE ISSUE IN THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON OCTOBER 6-7 ATTACS AND INFORMATION WARFARE Gizem YILDIRIM Güngör ŞAHİN War is a phenomenon that has taken place in social life throughout political history and whose diversity has increased day by day. The reflection of this phenomenon on societies has occurred thanks to technology. With the increase in technological developments, news sources have increased and led to societies being informed about the events taking place in the world, regardless of their geographical location. Thus, the way the world press and media handle the news has affected the perspectives and thoughts of societies. Since the way the media deals with wars and the meaning they want to convey to society generally proceed in parallel, societies' attitudes and approaches toward attacks may change. Since the way the attacks are reflected in the world public opinion varies according to the ideology of the news sources, there has been some competition among these sources. This competition is reflected today as information wars. The basis of information wars is the difference in the ideologies of these news sources. Ideological differences can be demonstrated through the discourse style, language and content of the news presented. This study dealt with 3-day news analysis from the day the Hamas-Israeli attacks began on October 6-7, 2023. The aim of the study is to examine to what extent media organizations affect the flow of information, based on the October 7 Hamas-Israel attacks. The fact that this issue was not addressed from the information warfare perspective when the literature was reviewed shows the importance of the study. The hypothesis of the research is that differences in the ideology of newspaper organizations create information warfare in a way that supports or increases existing conflicts. Based on this hypothesis, how the information flow of the news affected this war was addressed as a research question. The study was limited to the news of Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Xinhua and Sputnik news agencies between 7-10 October and used the critical discourse analysis method while examining the news. In this way, the effect of information warfare on Hamas-Israeli attacks was tried to be explained. The findings revealed the existence of information wars among the reasons why the war did not end. Artical Type: Research Article Key Words: Hamas, Knowledge, Media, Critical Discourse Analysis, Information Warfare Jel Codes: F5, F51 Artical’s Note: This study was prepared in compliance with the scientific research and ethicals rules. There is no content necessitating any permission from Ethical Board or any legal/special permission in this study.

Galdan Boshugtu Khan: Leadership Style & Emotional Intelligence

Galdan Boshugtu Khan, the prominent political and military figure of Mongolia left a sizeable mark not only on the history of Mongolia, but Central Asian political and cultural history. The primary goal of this research work was attempted to identify the historical character Galdan Boshugtu Khan in terms of his leadership styles and emotional intelligence (EI). Totally 35 descriptive examples from the novel ‘Galdan Boshugtu Khan, written by Tsembel.D in 2014, were collected within the concepts of Daniel Coleman’s leadership styles as Visionary, Coaching, Affiliate, Democratic, Pacesetting and Commanding. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods of categorization and content analysis of the historical character to interpret the leadership and emotional characteristics. The leadership skills and emotional capacity of Galdan Boshugtu Khan were attributed in correlation analysis as well. The research results were stated with descriptive method focusing on interpreting the Khan’s leadership style and his emotional intelligence. As a result of the study, Galdan Boshugtu Khan was identified as a leader with an ability to recognize and control himself in different situations, and optimistic person as an individual. In terms of his social communication, Galdan Boshugtu Khan was skillful to understand others, to form teams, and to persuade others. In the point of the character pattern, it is viewed that Galdan Boshugtu Khan was a historical figure with visionary, affiliate and coaching styles. The findings of the research were supported by the theory of personality and leadership.

Mahler's Music in Hungary, 1920–1956: Performance, Reception, Politics

AbstractThe music of Gustav Mahler was almost completely excluded from Budapest's concert halls between 1938 and 1945, and again between 1952 and 1957. Its position within the Hungarian public sphere was, however, definitely strengthened in the period from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s, and stabilized again from 1958. Chronological correlations between performance and political history highlight the destructive influence of anti-Semitic discrimination elevated to the level of government policy and of the Stalinist political course on the presence of Mahler's music. From 1921 until 1937, Gustav Mahler's music was performed on a regular basis in the concert halls of the Hungarian capital. During that decade and a half, the majority of Mahler's works were present in Budapest, and, in 1935, even the unfinished Symphony no. 10 was premiered in the city. In the interwar period, the framework of Hungarian social and political life was a conservative parliamentary system with authoritarian elements. However, the public sphere under that regime was, at least until the late thirties, multipolar both in cultural and ideological sense, and it had a pluralistic structure. Mahler's music had conservative as well as left-wing and modernist adherents, while his art was rejected by representatives of folkloristic neo-classicism, by Zoltán Kodály and musicologists belonging to his inner circle. Mahler's music was performed in Budapest owing to the efforts of Hungarian and German-Austrian conductors, who formed a heterogeneous group in terms of socio-cultural background and political orientation. Following the war, the Holocaust and the wave of emigration, Mahler's works were performed again by a largely different group of musicians. But the relative boom of a few years was soon interrupted, and Mahler interpretation in Hungary withered away. The Mahler Renaissance, which took off in 1960, arrived from the Western centers to Hungary, where it produced not insignificant, but typically peripherial results. In my paper, I would like to position the situation of Mahler's music in Budapest within the context of the global reception of the composer. Furthermore, I will also attempt to answer the question to what extent Mahler's personal relationship with Hungarian musical institutions and with the musical elite in Budapest determined the posthumous reception of his music in Hungary.

The development of relations between “model communes” and the peasantry using the example of the “Ira” commune (named after V.I. Lenin) in the Tambov Gubernia in the 1920s

Importance. The analysis of farm and social relations of peasants with “model communes” on the example of the “Ira” commune, situated in the Kirsanov county of Tambov Gubernia, is carried out. The purpose of the study is to analyse the attributes of relations of peasantry and collective farms that used to gain the most of the Soviet government’s support in the village, including the most advanced and economically efficient. The relevance of studying the highlighted issue relies on the importance of using the unique practical experience of “model communes” activity.Materials and Methods. The study uses published and unpublished research, including the most valuable historical sources and materials in the funds of the State Archive of the Tambov Region and the State Archive of Social and Political History of the Tambov Region. For this purpose, general scientific methods and special methods of historical research have been used.Results and Discussion. The influence of the “Ira” “model commune” on its population is demonstrated with concrete examples. The main forms of communication are highlighted, from field trips to demonstration fields to talks and movie screenings in the clubhouse. The research uses examples to show how collective farming culturally affects the peasants.Conclusion. The role of “model communes” of new economic period in a traditional village’s progressive socio-economic transformation in innovating established peasant norms and practices is highlighted. On the example of the “Ira” commune it’s sociocultural and farm influence is revealed.

Trust and mistrust in COVID-19 politics: the shattered hopes of civil society engagement in Burkina Faso

In a democratic setting, civil society is considered to be one of the forces capable of checking on the government especially when it comes to issues that concern the public at large. The political history of Burkina Faso is replete with situations of civil society groupings confronting the governments be they democratic or authoritarian. So, at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in Burkina Faso one expected civil society organizations to live up to the challenges of the day by checking on the actions of President Kabore government. However, this did not happen. Hence, the following research question: Why was the Burkina Faso civil society inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Using elite interviewing techniques, I found out that low awareness of the COVID-19 threat within large swaths of the population and among members of civil society organizations accounted for the inaction of the most vocal civil society members during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis since the latter did not consider the COVID-19 pandemic issue as a political question deserving great attention. This has strong implications in terms of public trust. More precisely, it means that in Burkina Faso contrary to what the democracy promotion literature may have said on the virtues of civil society one cannot always trust civil society members to check on the government even in time of emergency such as that of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Further research may therefore help to better understand civil society-government relations in Burkina Faso.

Deterrence strategies for a small state: Analysis and survey

Abstract Classical deterrence theory has its origins in the era of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. Therefore, deterrence is mainly studied from the perspective of the superpowers. This study approaches deterrence from the less explored perspective of a small country by analysing academic deterrence literature and further deepening this perspective by means of a survey. As a result, the study produced a new view of how a small state can be positioned in modern deterrence theories, by introducing national and international enabling and preventive factors. The main findings of the research suggest that national enabling factors, such as a strong national defence and the resilience of the society, are important for a small state in terms of compensating for the deficit in influence in relation to superpowers. Limited options for building deterrence can be augmented by means of international enabling factors, such as military and political alliances. Deficits in terms of available military resources and international status could translate into national preventive factors, such as weakness in the eyes of the aggressor. The aggressor’s political intentions and history could appear as international preventive factors if they influence decision-making in an undesirable manner.

Examining Factors Contributing to the Entrenchment and Collapse of Authoritarianism Through the Lens of the Arab Spring

Abstract: This paper hopes to examine the reasons contributing to the failure of the Arab Spring to culminate in a lasting change in political reform and democratisation. The article utilises frameworks by previous authors to explain the phenomenon of the short-lived democracies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as provide additional insights of the author in obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the reason why autocratic states are so entrenched within MENA. At the end of this, the aim is to provide political substantiations regarding the failure of the Arab Spring, as opposed to the current focus surrounding violence and civil war as the driver to stunted democratic growth and autocratic resurgence. The article concludes that MENA countries are uniquely situated by their social, political and economic institutions and history that make democratic growth difficult unless as a means to achieve another priority, such as economic prosperity. This can be extrapolated towards analysing the behaviours of a variety of other states, democratic or autocratic, in their interactions with their population and foreign states.

Beyond postcolonial heteronomy: Kurdish question, decolonisation, and the relational time of democratic confederalism

Abdullah Öcalan’s theory of democratic confederalism, emerging from the Kurdish anti-colonial struggle against the states of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, diverges from a postcolonial framework by centring on social ecology. This paper argues that Öcalan’s approach signifies a rejection of the ‘heteronomy’ of postcolonial theory’s ‘dualist imaginary’, which reduces the interactive agencies shaping societies’ transformation to those implicated in the West–Rest binary. This binarism perpetuates a ‘ruptured’ understanding of non-Western political histories and a dualist notion of ‘unevenness’ that either neglects ‘inter-subaltern’ hierarchical relations – including colonial ones – or distorts their historical and agential roots. Öcalan’s theory, addressing the Kurdish condition as a constellation of fragmented ‘inter-subaltern’ colonies, implies a rejection of heteronomy both analytically and normatively. Analytically, it highlights the simultaneous transformation of state institutions and statelessness through intersocietal interactions, illuminating how the ‘unevenness of possibilities’ influences interactive transformations. Normatively, it aims to address the ‘uneven possibilities’ for ‘interactive’ political ‘doing’ and ‘alterations’, empowering suppressed ‘otherness’ through ‘interactive autonomy’. These proposals promote a relational and interactive understanding of time, framed around the core notion of ‘time as possibility’, which is crucial for advancing a relational international ontology and a decolonising perspective beyond the obstacle of heteronomy.

“Workers in Saskatchewan Now Have a Clear-Cut Bill of Rights”

This paper examines the politics surrounding the construction, implementation, and administration of the Saskatchewan Trade Union Act (stua) between 1944 and 1950. The act is important because it reflects the first attempt by a social democratic government in North America to construct a system of labour law that ostensibly aligned socialist ideas with the rights of workers to form trade union freedoms. This makes the stua unique in Canadian labour and political history because the legislation demonstrated the policy priorities of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (ccf) and the Canadian Congress of Labour as both organizations were attempting to solidify their places in postwar Canada. This history reflects the fact that the ccf and the unions, like the left in general throughout the 1940s and 1950s, defined the working class narrowly, focusing attention on white and male breadwinners with women and racialized workers very much on the periphery. The history also demonstrates the inherent contradiction within social democratic reform politics, as the act extended numerous rights to workers to organize and collectively bargain but when those same workers pushed back against government decision-making during the province’s first public-sector strike in 1948, political tensions found many of those same social democrats acting in similar manners to their private-sector counterparts. These tensions within social democratic approaches to labour relations – so evident in the Saskatchewan experience – have become a central contradiction of the movement throughout the postwar period and continue today.