non-Western Regions Research Articles

De-Westernization and the governance of global cultural connectivity: a dialogic approach to East Asian media cultures

In the last two decades, we have witnessed dramatic developments in the production of media cultures and their transnational circulation in non-Western regions. East Asia is one of the key regions in which these alternative cultural expressions flourish, in which cultural mixing and corporate collaboration intensify, and in which intra-regional consumption is set in motion. These developments have posed serious questions about the continuing plausibility of Euro-American cultural domination, and they necessitate the de-Westernization of the study of media and cultural globalization. Yet the degree to which the rise of East Asian media culture challenges West-centred power configurations remains a matter of debate—especially as new configurations of global governance in media culture have emerged which are subtly superseding the East–West binary, and permeating both Western and non-Western regions. This article analyses the rise of East Asian media cultures in terms of the governance of global media culture connectivity, with a particular focus on how the growing regional circulation of media products has promoted dialogic cross-border linkages. The article begins by sketching how the production, circulation, and connectivity of media cultures in East Asia have highlighted new perspectives and experiences in globalization. Homing in on the Japanese context, it then explores how the interplay of three modes of governance in global media culture puts critical limits on the way in which these interlinked media cultures can enhance cross-border dialogue. Specifically, the article examines the collaboration of media and cultural industries, the institutionalization of cultural internationalism, and the growing interest of states in branding the nation via media cultures. While the increasing circulation and consumption of East Asian media cultures have considerably facilitated dialogic connections among people in the region, it is still a matter of debate whether these developments can fundamentally challenge uneven processes of globalization in media cultures and build cross-border dialogue.

Rural electrification systems based on renewable energy: The social dimensions of an innovative technology

Many areas in rural non-Western regions are installing electrification systems based on renewable energy. Although these projects are usually welcome, they sometimes fail. Explanations for failures often cite technical reasons. In this research, partly based on the results of the SOPRA_RE project, we focus on the users, studying the relationships between technology and society. By analysing potential sources of failures, we identify the root of the problem as how a new technology is received by the local society. In this paper we introduce dimensions that we consider to be especially important in the process of technology integration. We defend the importance of combining the technical outlook with the sociological one, based on the idea that the latter is often indispensable as a complementary element of technical explanations of system failures, which in turn provides a better basis for solving them. We use specific examples to bolster our insistence on the need to achieve convergence between the technical and the sociological outlooks.

Comparative Politics of Non-Western States and Game Theory

This article examines what theoretical contributions game theory has made on comparative politics of non-Western states. Political scientists have been drawn to these regions to revisit such classic issues of political science as state building, dictatorship, democratization, revolution. These issues was studied in terms of culturalist and structuralist approaches. Yet, recently game theoretical approaches based on methodological individualism have uncovered micro-foundations of such macro events. The success of this recent comparative studies leads us to expect that game theory based comparative politics of non-Western regions continue to produce fruitful theoretical outcomes.

Introduction: Fascism in Interwar East Central and Southeastern Europe: Toward a New Transnational Research Agenda

This introductory essay provides a first, much needed comprehensive overview of the recent scholarship on fascism and the radical right in East Central and Southeastern Europe in local and international historiography. Its aim is to identify a new research agenda for studying fascism comparatively, potentially contributing to the fine-tuning or substantial modification of the existing explanatory paradigms. It is argued that comparative research on fascism and the radical right in these regions should be set on new theoretical and methodological foundations, as part of an effort toward greater interaction and convergence between scholarly research traditions in Eastern and Western Europe. My endeavor is based on the assumption that the study of fascist movements and regimes in East Central and Southeastern Europe is essential to the more general scholarly effort to understand radical politics in interwar Europe; without it, comparative research results remain partial and incomplete. Yet, this analytical effort does not simply mean an extension of the existing theoretical framework of generic fascism to previously uncharted regions. Regional explorations of fascism might function as a laboratory for further methodological innovation and as a field of experimentation and interaction of scholars from various disciplines and national historiographic traditions. They can potentially lead to the rejuvenation of fascist studies by renewing their thematic scope and by redirecting research from the prevailing Weberian ideal-type methodology fixated on the fascist “ideological minimum” to new comparative-historical analyses focusing on the triad ideology-movements-regimes. This novel agenda of research prompts scholars to rethink their units of analysis, and to renounce teleological comparative perspectives still prevalent in Cold War-type scholarship which takes Western Europe as a measuring stick and normatively evaluates other historical case studies only by means of negative comparisons (e.g.: what was missing, or what “went wrong” in non-Western regions). Instead of treating fascist movements and regimes in these regions as carbon copies of their more “genuine” Western counterparts, scholars should rather explore multiple laboratories for the elaboration of fascist ideology in interwar politics and the transfer of illiberal political ideas and practices over spatial or temporal borders, resulting in radical political experiments in East and West alike.

The rise of the rich: a new view of modern world history

'The rise of the West' has long been the accepted doctrine for framing analyses of world history. Privileging a Eurocentric approach, this traditional paradigm obscures the significance of the indigenous rich in non-Western regions and fails to recognize the contributions of the Orient. In this book, Peter Gran seeks to reframe current historical debates, presenting a model of analysis based on the rise of the rich. Gran outlines the structure of this new paradigm, building upon metanarrative concepts from Marxism to liberalism.Rather than a history of clashing civilizations, he identifies a history of resolving conflicts through negotiations among the wealthy classes of various regions. Fundamental to his theory is evidence demonstrating the existence of non-European ruling classes with power in interregional affairs. Far-reaching in its historical scope, Gran's work lays the foundation for a critical rethinking of world history and offers a vital contribution to the field.

Acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and diabetes in the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events

This editorial refers to the paper entitled 'Heart failure in patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes: observations from the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events (Gulf RACE)' by Alawi A. Alsheikh-Ali et al., on page 1135.

Dual Discovery, Dual Dialogue : Reflections on the Global Modernization of Historical Writing

Dual Discovery, Dual Dialogue :Reflections on the Global Modernization of Historical Writing Q. Edward Wang (bio) In the 19th century, when Western colonialism was in full swing, non-Westerners made tremendous efforts to accommodate and integrate Western influences. These efforts determined how and when Western cultural influences appeared in non-Western regions. Non-Western intellectuals searched for ways to appropriate Western influences without totally giving up their own traditions. Moreover, the spread of modern Western culture was usually facilitated by Western military superiority and violence, which naturally fueled both resentment and resistance. These feelings, in turn, generated a strong interest among non-Westerners in reviving and reinforcing indigenous cultures and identities. Confronted by Western power, non-Western peoples harkened back to their past and searched for useful indigenous traits. Once non Western peoples discovered the efficacy of nationalism in fighting off Western incursions, historiography and nationalism became intertwined. To be sure, nationalism is a Western product. But it became attractive worldwide exactly because it offered a useful way for people to strengthen their native traditions in the face of Western incursions. Consider the case of Japan. The professionalization of historical study occurred in Japan almost at the same time as it did in major Western countries. In 1889 Japanese historians established a national association, which published Japan's first professional historical journal, Shigaku zasshi. By comparison, the Historische Zeitshrift was first published in 1859, the Revue historique in 1876, the English Historical Review in 1886, and the American Historical Review in 1895. In 1887 Japanese historians invited Ludwig Riess (1861-1928), a disciple of Ranke, to become Tokyo University's first history professor. Riess accepted, and he played an instrumental role in professionalizing the study of history in Japan after the German model. It was no accident that the Japanese singled out Riess, a Rankean. The Japanese historians who decided to issue the invitation favored Rankean historiography over other historiographical schools in the West because they found that Ranke's emphasis on source critique corresponded squarely to their own scholarly tradition, known in East Asia as "evidential learning" (kaozheng xue). "Evidential learning" originated in 18th-century China. By the end of the 18th century it had spread to Japan, where it flourished during the first half of the 19th century, just in time to prepare Japanese historians to receive Rankean historiography, which they deemed a Western form of "evidential learning." Not only did an extant paradigm influence how Western culture was received, it also determined when the reception took place. Click for larger view View full resolution Principals and students of the Peking University, 1902. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [reproduction number, LC-USZ62-94915]. The case of China illustrates a different kind of cultural exchange. Repeatedly defeated by Western powers in the 19th century, and then by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), the Chinese launched a series of reforms, including the establishment of a modern university. At first, Chinese intellectuals were more attracted to Herbert Spencer's interpretation of Darwinism and historical progress than they were to Ranke's "scientific" method. These intellectuals felt a pressing need to persuade the rulers that change was necessary for the survival of China. To this end, they used the Confucian tradition to argue that the idea of evolution was not alien to Chinese culture; indeed, according to them, Confucius had anticipated it in his works. Thanks to this representation of Confucianism, Darwinism became a dominant trend of thought in China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The early 20th century witnessed the end of imperial China, as well as a shift in Chinese historiography. In the newly founded Republic of China (1912-1949) more serious efforts were made to turn historical study into a profession. Peking University became its main base, though other universities sprang up elsewhere. At these institutions history became an academic subject. Many of the new history professors had received advanced degrees either in the West or in Japan. They founded research institutions, published journals, and organized professional associations devoted to the study of history. In this process, Chinese historians demonstrated a serious interest in the "scientific history" of the West. Their...

Dental health and disease determinants among 35-year-olds in Oslo, Norway

Objective. The aim of the present study was to identify non-biological determinants associated with the number of sound teeth (ST) and presence of decayed surfaces (DS) among 35-year-old Oslo citizens. Material and methods. Randomly selected participants (n=149, response rate 64%) completed a self-administered questionnaire and were examined clinically and radiographically. Dental caries was registered clinically following World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria for caries registration, and the findings were combined with radiographic caries recordings. The number of sound teeth and the presence of two or more dentine caries lesions (D3S≥2) were selected as dependent variables. Associations between selected dependent variables and possible determinants were assessed by linear and logistic regression analyses, taking into account the hierarchical relationships between the independent variables. Results. On average, 35-year-olds had 17.1 (SD=5.6) ST. Half of the participants had no DS and 26% had D3S≥2. Non-Western region of birth, being single, and having a university education were significantly associated with higher numbers of ST. Low family income, presently a smoker, and irregular dental visits were significantly associated with the presence of dentine caries. Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that several non-biological determinants operating at different levels are important for health and disease in this adult population.

Predicting User Concerns about Online Privacy in Hong Kong

Empirical studies on people's online privacy concerns have largely been conducted in the West. The global threat of privacy violations on the Internet calls for similar studies to be done in non-Western regions. To fill this void, the current study develops a path model to investigate the influence of people's Internet use-related factors, their beliefs in the right to privacy, and psychological need for privacy on Hong Kong people's concerns about online privacy. Survey responses from 332 university students were analyzed. Results from this study show that people's belief in the right to privacy was the most important predictor of their online privacy concerns. It also significantly mediated the relationship between people's psychological need for privacy and their concerns with privacy violations online. Moreover, while frequent use of the Internet may increase concerns about online privacy issues, Internet use diversity may actually reduce such worries. The final model, well supported by the observed data, successfully explained 25% of the variability in user concerns about online privacy.

Pensée 3: A Sectarian Middle East?

The problem of “Middle East exceptionalism” is perhaps nowhere as apparent as in the study of Middle East politics, particularly its purported sectarian nature. Our understanding of Middle East politics suffers less from the lack of empirical data than the poverty of the conceptual and theoretical frameworks through which it is studied. Unlike other non-Western regions, the Middle East continues to be analyzed through a conceptual prism that has changed little since the collapse of colonial rule.

After Secularization?

The study of secularization appears to be entering a new phase. Supply-side theories that focus exclusively on religious participation and membership seem too one-dimensional. But classical theories of secularization contain generalized and teleological premises that are at odds with the complexities of empirical reality and the historical record. This review seeks to map a new way forward and identify key obstacles and goals. It begins by retracing the development of secularization theory within sociology and the genealogy of the secularization concept within presociological discourse. It then reviews what is and is not known about secularization in the West, noting the limitations of the data and biases in research. The article further argues for comparative and historical approaches that incorporate non-Christian religions and non-Western regions. The social scientific literature that critically reassesses the relationship between diverse religious movements, secularisms, and liberal democracies presents new questions for future research. We stress the importance of theoretical approaches that move beyond the deeply entrenched secularist and religious assumptions and propose general guidelines for future research on the varieties of secularity.

Overlay networks in the West and the East: a techno-economic analysis of mobile virtual network operators

The purpose of this study is to examine cross-national data in order to identify possible factors related to the observable patterns of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) penetration. For this purpose, a mobile market structure is analyzed considering economic factors related to the penetration of MVNOs. MVNOs have gained popularity in Western markets, but have a dismal track record in non-Western regions. In comparing the different regions, this study analyzes how the MVNO market has changed and what opportunities and/or threats network operators and potential MVNO entrants are likely to face. This study conducts an economic assessment of market structure and the environment for different countries' MVNO penetration, in order to compute key indicators. Cluster/factor analysis tools are used to analyze the data on market structure in order to group countries according to their market environments. In addition, regression equation analysis is used to investigate the relations of MVNO penetration and independent variables. The results show that MVNO penetration significantly relates to market structure and performance. These results also imply an appropriate policy to promote MVNO diffusion.

Theorizing East Asian International Relations in Korea

This article discusses the analytically unbalanced theorizing in International Relations (IR) when it comes to a region, or subsystem. The tension is between theoretical universalism and contextual exceptionalism, and it is present in the IR community in Korea. If the former group is loyal to the general principles of scientific inquiry of social research, the latter group emphasizes the unique historical experience of Korea and its theorizing efforts to reflect such uniqueness. The author argues that for the IR community in Korea to develop its own name brand, the Korean as an independent and influential force like the English School, it should collectively seek to bridge its perceptual representation concerning historical uniqueness with scientifically theorizing efforts while simultaneously incorporating the general theories of IR with unique regional independent variables. Key words: Korea, international relations theory, East Asia Introduction Science creates knowledge, and scientists constantly doubt knowledge. They derive research puzzles1 from what appears to be inconsistent with expectations of the existing theories.2 And the process of constructing an alternative argument, proposing a new theoretical framework and examining evidence for testing its validity is difficult, if not tortuous. Such venturous conjecture, called theorizing, defines the identity of International Relations (IR) as social science, and none can deny that the crux of the field's ontology rests upon its endless efforts to theorize about world politics. IR creates knowledge about international politics. Without a doubt, theorizing in International Relations essentially determines the ways that world politics is debated, studied, and taught. The bottom line is this: Theory is a set of ideas about how the world works or should work, and lays the conceptual foundation for creating knowledge that can be tested again by more theorizing. This is how social science progresses. IR theorists3 have concentrated primarily on great-power politics under the singular assumption that power politics should shape the general landscape of world politics. This is one of the reasons why many doubt the explanatory utility of Western International Relations theory applied to subsystems. On the other hand, theorizing about regional IR has been neglected due to the stereotype that the peripheral zone of international politics may not critically affect great-power politics. Non-Western regions in this vein have been considered generally as part of area studies, whose scholarly interest may be far from theorizing their regional interactions; its logic of inquiry is grounded in discovering a region's distinctive characteristics. However, with the end of the cold war, the increasing significance of regional politics, and the strong drive toward regionalization, regional IR theorizing has attracted much more scholarly attention from the IR community in order to bridge analytical gaps between area studies and IR theorizing.4 In this regard, there exists an unequal distribution between theoretical universalism and contextual exceptionalism when it comes to theorizing about a subsystem (i.e., region) apart from a whole system (i.e., world politics). Whereas IR theorizing requires much more deductive reasoning for theory construction in order to explain systemic IR phenomena, area specialization generally demands inductive investigations of history, language, and culture focusing on a limited area. This article generally illuminates such tension, and argues that the principle of universalism should still guide us when theorizing about a subsystem. The article deals with East Asia, whose importance has been rising very rapidly, inviting major scholars' attention and much heated current-affairs debates virtually from all around the world. While the region offers empirical richness, theoretical rigor in theorizing about East Asian IR still has a long way to go. …

Narratives of self-assertion: representations of the western Other in the works of the Uzbek author Abdulhamid Sulaymon Cholpan, 1897 – 1938

This article examines the portrayal and discursive function of the western Other in the literary works of Abdulhamid Sulaymon Cholpan (1897 – 1938) of Uzbekistan, by locating his narratives at the intersection of Russian and Soviet rule in Central Asia. It argues that the western Other appears in contradictory roles in Cholpan's literary texts, with some of his literary narratives expressing an admiration for European material progress and value systems and others displaying sharp criticism of its imperialistic objectives in non-western regions. The article further argues that despite these differences in the way the western Other is represented, Cholpan's literary writings can be considered as a counter-discursive practice, directed against both the established traditional culture and the colonial authority. However, Cholpan's literary narratives also often contribute to the construction of similar Orientalist images created by westerners about non-western people by describing ‘backward’ and ‘primitive’ aspects of Central Asian society using the very same language and discourse of Orientalism.

Researching the impact of ICTs as change catalysts in Africa

Compared to about a decade ago, following the advent of the modern “mass” Internet (especially the World Wide Web), e-mail and cell phones around the mid-1990s, academic and general interest in the impact of these new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has increased tremendously. One of the most popular realms of interest has been the influence of digital ICT media on political expression and change, an area where opinion has been sharply divided between optimists (utopians) and pessimists (dystopians), with realists (pragmatists) trying to bridge the rift. A key issue ICT researchers have been concerned with is whether to come up with new theories and methods or to use old or existing ones in humanities and social sciences (especially in the fields of media and communications). Related to this, and not restricted to the field of ICTs, is whether researchers from non-Western regions like Africa should expect to make a meaningful contribution to academia and to their countries’ policies and “life world” if they use perspectives originating from the highly industrialised world.

Researching the impact of ICTs as change catalysts in Africa

Compared to about a decade ago, following the advent of the modern “mass” Internet (especially the World Wide Web), e-mail and cell phones around the mid-1990s, academic and general interest in the impact of these new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has increased tremendously. One of the most popular realms of interest has been the influence of digital ICT media on political expression and change, an area where opinion has been sharply divided between optimists (utopians) and pessimists (dystopians), with realists (pragmatists) trying to bridge the rift. A key issue ICT researchers have been concerned with is whether to come up with new theories and methods or to use old or existing ones in humanities and social sciences (especially in the fields of media and communications). Related to this, and not restricted to the field of ICTs, is whether researchers from non-Western regions like Africa should expect to make a meaningful contribution to academia and to their countries’ policies and “life world” if they use perspectives originating from the highly industrialised world.

The Fountain of Privilege: Political Foundations of Markets in Old Regime France and England, and: Le Travail. Reflet des Cultures: Du sauvage indolent au travailleur productif, and: The Rites of Labor: Brotherhoods of Compagnonnage in Old and New Regime France (review)

Reviewed by: The Fountain of Privilege: Political Foundations of Markets in Old Regime France and England, and: Le Travail. Reflet des Cultures: Du sauvage indolent au travailleur productif, and: The Rites of Labor: Brotherhoods of Compagnonnage in Old and New Regime France George J. Sheridan Jr. Hilton L. Root. The Fountain of Privilege: Political Foundations of Markets in Old Regime France and England (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994). Pp. xv + 280. Annie Jacob. Le Travail. Reflet des Cultures: Du sauvage indolent au travailleur productif (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1994). Pp. 276. Cynthia Maria Truant. The Rites of Labor: Brotherhoods of Compagnonnage in Old and New Regime France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994). Pp. xi + 356. $43.95. These three studies together represent the long eighteenth century of Western Europe, especially France, as a period at once strangely paradoxical and familiarly rational. They highlight, in very different ways, certain values, perceptions, and institutional and ritual behaviors that gave this period extending back into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries its historical peculiarity, while constituting a “system” of rather modern elements. The Fountain of Privilege analyzes the functioning of absolutist, privilege-ridden Old Regime France according to the structural logic of its political and social institutions, explaining the regime’s deep-seated instability and eventual demise through revolution. The analysis is couched in the conceptual and explanatory vocabulary of free markets, market efficiency, and ideally entrepreneurial market agents. But the leading claims have more to do with “political markets” (8) and with the political institutions by which rights, notably those of ownership and use, were obtained, secured, and traded, than with economics tout court . A single idea drives the analysis. In simplified terms, this idea may be described as follows. Lacking a common forum where rights, both political and economic, could be traded openly and where differing interests could confront one another and thereby negotiate, French absolutism relied upon the discretionary distribution of monopoly privilege from one source or deal-maker, the Crown, among a multiplicity of separated private individuals and corporate groups as its means of assuring a reliable flow of revenue, its primary concern. Discretionary authority enabled the monarchy to do this with a small immediate cost of transaction, but the same authority undermined long-run confidence and required an institutional adjustment on the part of the holders of privilege for the system to continue to function. This adjustment, which took, for instance, the form of corporate organization and indebtedness in manufacture and finance, ultimately restricted the regime’s capacity to augment its revenues and to initiate administrative and fiscal reform. The same discretionary mechanism inhibited flows of information about emerging opportunities and also minimized incentives for bargaining among private individuals and groups, which constrained modernization of government and economic life. Thus the institutional arrangements and behaviors of rulers and ruled in Old Regime France displayed an underlying structural rationality, but its logic over time was ultimately self-constricting, to the point that the system it was intended to support could not reform itself to avoid collapse. This is, to be sure, a highly sophisticated and trenchant thesis. Fountain of Privilege brilliantly elaborates this thesis in essays on a number of flashpoint issues of Old Regime absolutism and privilege—state and society, peasant economy and feudal dues, food policy and food riots, guilds and monopolies, state finance and public credit, and not least, the fiscal crisis [End Page 251] precipitating 1789. With evident iconoclastic fervor, the author bulldozes new trails through the dense thicket of historiographic interpretation on these most thorny topics, toppling or shaving the claims of eminent historians or interpretive schools, or clipping away at well-tendered idioms of value or belief, such as subsistence ethic and moral economy, long used to explain broad patterns of behavior. This single idea, guiding the way like a steady laser beam, deftly adjusts to the historical and contextual particularities of each issue, which are often enlightened by the author’s own archival spadework. Informed by a rigorous culture of theories of rational choice, collective action, and institutional change, as well as by comparative development studies of non-Western regions, Fountain of Privilege provides a most original cross-disciplinary reading of...

Medieval origins of constitutional government in the West

This survey of the political history of nonwestern countries has shown that Russia, Japan, and China never developed the levels of constitutional government found in late medieval Europe. Three of the four social origins of constitutionalism in the West, rough balance between crown and noble, contractual-feudal military organization, and lordpeasant dynamics have been largely absent from these countries. Nor has any other substantial source (such as religion or economic organization) been uncovered that compensated for these absences or which otherwise fostered constitutionalism. Consequently, the major institutes of medieval constitutionalism, rural local government, autonomous towns, estates, and the rule of law, have also been largely absent. Village government, on the other hand, which was fostered in the West by the continuance of Germanic peasant organization and by the commune movement of the medieval period, has been found to be quite ubiquitous outside Europe. Village government existed — and in vital forms — in all three nonwestern regions, but always dwarfed by the power of authoritarian organs of the surrounding state structures. Thus, village government in and of itself lacked constitutional significance unless it was able to fuse with other, stronger constitutional institutions as it did in the West.

Teaching About Africa South of the Sahara in American Secondary Schools -- A Survey and a Challenge

The study of Africa south of the Sahara in American secondary schools has traditionally been most conspicuous by its absence. In fact, the secondary-school social studies curriculum, oriented as it has always been to the study of western civilization, has rarely allowed for the study of any nonwestern region or culture, least of all that of the “Dark Continent.” Now, however, this situation is changing, and changing rapidly. Considerable efforts are being made today to introduce the study of the Non-West into the curricula of many secondary schools. And, for a variety of reasons, an increasing number of schools are making special efforts to include Africa south of the Sahara in this study. These efforts, however, are proving a difficult, if not insurmountable, challenge for most teachers and curriculum builders. Few, indeed, are the social studies teachers and supervisors with the academic training or extended living experience in the lands below the Sahara required to provide the insights upon which a worthwhile study of this region can be structured. Most schools do not have ready access to the advice of Africaniste on this subject. Even worthwhile printed guidelines for designing a study of this region are sorely lacking; with the exception of Leonard Kenworthy's Studying Africa in Elementary and Secondary Schools (10), there is not a single book, pamphlet, handbook, or curriculum guide to which teachers may profitably turn for help.

The Non-Western Political Process

T HE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE is to outline some of the dominant and distinctive characteristics of the non-Western political process. In recent years, both the student of comparative politics and the field worker in the newly emergent and economically underdeveloped countries have found it helpful to think in terms of a general category of non-Western politics.1 There are, of course, great differences among the non-Western societies. Indeed, in the past, comparative analysis was impeded by an appreciation of the rich diversity in the cultural traditions and the historical circumstances of the Western impact; students and researchers found it necessary to concentrate on particular cultures, and as a consequence attention was generally directed to the unique features of each society. Recently, however, attempts to set forth some of the characteristics-eommon to the political life of countries experiencing profound social change have stimulated fruitful discussions among specialists on the different non-Western regions as well as among general students of comparative politics. For this discussion to continue, it is necessary for specialists on the different areas to advance, in the form of rather bold and unqualified statements, generalized models of the political process common in non-Western societies.2 Then, by examining the ways in which particular non-Western countries differ from the generalized models, it becomes possible to engage in significant comparative analysis.