Elite Research Articles

SULTAN MUHAMMAD BAHAUDIN : KONTRIBUSINYA TERHADAP KESULTANAN PALEMBANG DARUSSALAM

This article discusses the Struggle of Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin and His Contribution to the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam (1188-1218H/1774-1803 AD). The main problem raised in this research is how the struggle and contribution of Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin to the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam. The type of research used is qualitative research, namely the type of research that explains the facts between the phenomena under study and to understand the phenomenon of what the research subject experienced by describing and collecting data through primary sources in the form of HIKAYAT PALEMBANG and secondary sources in the form of articles, books and documentation in the form of pictures. Sultan Muhammad Bahaudin's contribution to the Palembang Darussalam Sultanate had a major influence on the Sultanate. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin had a sizeable contribution in fighting for the Palembang Darussalam Sultanate. One of the things we can feel is the development he carried out in the form of Fort Kuto Besak (BKB) to an increasingly advanced economy like Tin and Pepper which was successfully monopolized by Sultan Muhammad besides that the political elite could also be controlled and respected by other nobles, Palembang was also the center for broadcasting Islam in the archipelago thanks to him, besides that Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin also made medical texts about concoctions for knee pain, bone pain or gout is a medical text made by Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin to Sheikh Muhammad Akib.

Fantasies of cultural sovereignty and national unity: Russia?s ontological (in)security and its assertion of ?spiritual-moral values??

AbstractDrawing on ontological security studies and Lacanian theory, the article examines the role of ?spiritual-moral values? (SMV) in Russian politics. It argues that SMV have been employed by the Russian political elite to construct an (illusory) sense of ontological security, presented as attainable via the promotion of sovereignty and national unity. Through the analysis of policy documents and Vladimir Putin?s speeches for the period 2012?2023, the article outlines three interlocking narratives: (a) Russian cultural norms are under attack; (b) attacks can be resisted through cultural sovereignty, with SMV playing a crucial role; and (c) the Russian population is united through the same SMV. These narratives (?fantasies? in the Lacanian sense) create promises destined to remain unfulfilled: cultural sovereignty is based on the unrealistic belief that culture can remain unaltered, while existing policies fragment society, causing the ontological insecurity of ethnic and sexual minorities, but also the Russian population more widely.

Barking up the wrong tree? Voter bias and female underrepresentation in Japanese politics

Abstract Previous studies on gender bias in the evaluation of politicians by voters have reported mixed results. We seek to understand these mixed findings by focusing on Japan, where female political representation is the lowest among advanced democracies and gender stereotypes are prevalent. We consider that gender stereotypes and the dearth of women in politics affect the evaluation of politicians via two distinct mechanisms: biased beliefs and weak priors. The two mechanisms are assumed to run counter to each other, thus leading to the null or mixed findings for gendered evaluation reported by previous studies. To test our argument, we conduct a series of survey experiments in Japan. Our findings conform to neither of the two mechanisms. Even in a society with low female political representation, we find no evidence of the gendered evaluation of candidates by voters. We suggest that rather than biasing voters’ evaluation of candidates, gender stereotypes dissuade women from aspiring to a political career and elite electoral gatekeepers from selecting female candidates.

Food Insecurity, Dependency, Islamist Elites in Sudan: The Genesis of the ‘Sudanese Disease’ as a Syndrome of Wealth and War (1989–2011)

This article examines the different aspects that converge to explain food insecurity in the Republic of Sudan from 1989 to the secession of the southern states in 2011. Two phases of the 1989–2011 period are analysed, and within these, three fundamental aspects of the Sudanese scenario: the role of political and social elites, economic dependence and food insecurity. The latter is a corollary of the two previous aspects. Consequently, the successive wars in Sudan cannot be understood with a simple and partial approach. Dependency and permanent repression have crystallised as essential elements of the exercise of power by the Islamist elites in order to understand food insecurity in most Sudanese regions in the last decade of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The three aspects mentioned above also give shape to a phenomenon or syndrome and a concept that is not only specific to Sudan, but which has clearly materialised in Sudan: the ‘Sudanese disease’.

Power and Privilege: Mapping Imagined Communities in Japan’s English Medium International Schools

This paper explores the commodification of education and the reinforcement of hegemony through international English Medium schools in Japan, positioning them as gatekeepers to imagined communities of global elitism. Over the past decade, Japan has seen a surge in international schools, driven by the global dominance of the English language. The institutions, which were initially established for expatriate elites, now cater to affluent Japanese and Asian families. This paper examines the high costs, selective admissions, and marketing strategies of these schools to illustrate how they commercialize education, perpetuate class divisions, and uphold cultural dominance. The literature suggests that English Medium U.K. and US model international schools in Japan symbolize access to elite Western power structures, reinforcing social stratification and the marginalization of those within Japan unable to afford such education. This study employs theoretical frameworks of imagined communities, hegemony, and cultural capital to analyze the broader societal implications of these schools. A systematic review of relevant academic literature, complemented by a comparative analysis of tuition fees, was conducted to deepen the understanding of the relationship between education, power, and social identity in contemporary Japan. By doing so, it aims to foster a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.

Navigating power dynamics in elite interviews

ABSTRACT Elite interviews, which involve interviewing influential individuals, are an important data collection method. This article delves into the complexities of conducting elite interviews, drawing upon insights gained from interviewing 24 senior organisational leaders in New Zealand. This article argues that the power relations between researchers and elite respondents are not static; rather, they are shaped by the specific socio-political context. Moreover, the article argues that reflexivity plays a crucial role in interrogating the power dynamics between researchers and respondents. This enables a deeper understanding of how a researcher’s identity, including gender, nationality, and experience level, can influence the interview dynamics. This article contributes to the methodological understanding of elite interviews by not only providing empirical research but also by exploring a unique elite group: leaders of teacher unions, who are both professional and political elites.

Legal experts colluding with the political and economic elites in justifying corruption: the case of Malaysia’s Madani goverment

This paper examines the increasing centralization of power by the current ‘reformist’ Malaysian government through the co-optation of civil society organizations (CSOs) to bolster the moral legitimacy of the integral state. We argue that Anwar Ibrahim’s transition from a unifying figure in oppositional politics to his current role has inadvertently led to the muting of civil society actors (CSAs) and CSOs. This co-optation has significantly diminished the autonomy and influence of civil society in Malaysia’s political landscape. A comparative analysis of the socio-economic strategies employed by Anwar and his predecessor, Najib Razak, reveals that Anwar’s efforts towards wealth redistribution and empowerment of marginalized communities have been limited. This policy approach has disproportionately affected rural constituencies, potentially altering the dynamics of political support. Furthermore, the current administration under Anwar faces criticism for failing to fulfill its campaign promise of holding corrupt politicians accountable. This situation is exacerbated by the involvement of two prominent lawyers representing politicians across party lines, raising questions about conflicts of interest and the integrity of the judicial process. Drawing on Gramscian theory, this paper posits that legal professionals should be incorporated into the concept of the ‘integral state’ due to their capacity to interpret, manipulate, and shape laws in ways that often benefit the ruling elite. This theoretical expansion provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding the mechanisms of power consolidation in contemporary Malaysian politics.

Влияние социально-экономической дифференциации молодежи на ее политическую идентичность

This article examines the features of the political identity of provincial youth based on socio-economic differentiation. It is noted that the youth environment is not homogeneous in its socio-economic status and such differentiation in the context of a Special Military Operation, an unstable political situation, and social tension presupposes a different political identity. In turn, this leads to destructive activity of young people in relation to government officials, as well as to intergroup conflicts. This assumption formed the basis of the author’s analysis in considering the possible dependence of the ideological identification of young people on their place in the social structure of society. The scientific tasks to be solved by the analysis are the understanding and conceptualization of the political and ideological orientations of modern youth in the context of socio-economic differentiation. The working hypothesis was that the least financially protected groups of young people are the most radical in relation to the authorities. Therefore, the author conditionally distinguishes two groups of young people. The first group of young people are those who have a low standard of living, suffer from a lack of social elevators and social injustice, do not have the opportunity to get a good education and are ready to change their position in society during protest actions. The second group of young people is the generation that grew up as “qualified consumers”, who saw risks in reducing their consumption levels and are therefore ready for protest actions in order to defend their rights as consumers. However , the study of this problem revealed that modern youth are quite apolitical, this was shown by answers to the question about choosing an ideology whose values are closest to the respondent, as well as a rather low percentage of radically minded youth, regardless of financial situation, which does not significantly affect the political process. At the same time, in conditions of political instability and elite conflict, these groups of youth can become a destructive resource for political actors in the conflict.

Rally around the flag? Explaining changes in Swedish public opinion toward NATO membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden changed its historic position of non-alignment and applied for membership in the NATO military alliance. This decision coincided with a shift in public opinion in favor of NATO membership, in what has been described as the largest and fastest shift in public opinion that has ever been measured in Swedish history. We examine two aspects of this “rally around the flag effect” to explain this change, the effect of the crisis event itself and the effect of political elite influence by analyzing within-individual changes of a Swedish university student population at three different time points. We find that after the Russian invasion but before the decision was made to join NATO, public opinion was still split with roughly 40% still opposed. However, after the decision was made to apply for membership to the alliance many people changed their position (32%), either making up their minds or switching position entirely. We show that these changes were likely in response to the decision to join, and that they were moderated by individuals’ previously established political preferences.

Biofinancing Citizenship: Gotong Royong and the Political Construction of National Health Insurance Ideology in Indonesia

This paper examines the fund-collecting model of Indonesia's national health insurance system, Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN), performed by its organizing body, Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS). The system is based on the home-grown idea of gotong royong, often vaguely defined as ‘mutual assistance.’ As gotong royong has been prominent in Indonesia's nation building projects since before independence, scholars have argued that the term has carried numerous interpretations shared by political elites and the larger public they sought to mobilize. Analyzing recent public debates regarding the JKN, we argue that these debates are rooted in the unstable nature of the gotong royong principle. We begin with a brief history of Indonesia's national health insurance system and the evolution of the gotong royong notion, before presenting the various interpretations of gotong royong in the national health insurance system. We also examine the concept of biofinancing citizenship that has emerged as a consequence of the current implementation of the gotong royong principle as the central ideology of Indonesia's national health insurance system. This paper aims to enrich the literature in welfare politics by providing insights from one of the world’s largest and most ambitious national health insurance programs.

Anti-Corruption Activism on Social Media: Public Voices against the Weakening of the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) in the Joko Widodo Era

Joko Widodo's commitment in terms of eradicating corruption in Indonesia is very low, this is shown through the neglect of public voices on social media in the discourse of weakening the KPK. This study aims to explain the widespread public rejection of all efforts to weaken the KPK and analyze the factors that cause the government to choose to be ambiguous and lead to neglect. This research uses observation methods, documentation, literature studies and big data analysis. The study presents a different perspective from research that has discussed social media activism towards the weakening of anti-corruption institutions in Indonesia. The results of this study found that anti-corruption activism on social media was effective, such as the use of hashtags, coherent logic and credible actors, contributing to the rejection of the revision of the KPK Law and the dismissal of KPK employees through the National Insight Test. However, the massive anti-corruption movement on social media has no impact on the Joko Widodo administration's policymaking in the field of eradicating corruption, this paper also reveals the strong dominance of the political elite in policy making. The conclusion of this article is that the effectiveness of movements on social media to cause public unrest does not necessarily have an impact on decision-making made by state organizers.

The role of emerging elites in the formation and development of communities after the fall of the Roman Empire

Elites played a pivotal role in the formation of post-Roman Europe on both macro- and microlevels during the Early Medieval period. History and archaeology have long focused on their description and identification based on written sources or through their archaeological record. We provide a different perspective on this topic by integrating paleogenomic, archaeological, and isotopic data to gain insights into the role of one such elite group in a Langobard period community near Collegno, Italy dated to the 6-8th centuries CE. Our analysis of 28 newly sequenced genomes together with 24 previously published ones combined with isotope (Sr, C, N) measurements revealed that this community was established by and organized around a network of biologically and socially related individuals likely composed of multiple elite families that over time developed into a single extended pedigree. The community also included individuals with diverse genetic ancestries, maintaining its diversity by integrating newcomers and groups in later stages of its existence. This study highlights how shifts in political power and migration impacted the formation and development of a small rural community within a key region of the former Western Roman Empire after its dissolution and the emergence of a new kingdom. Furthermore, it suggests that Early Medieval elites had the capacity to incorporate individuals from varied backgrounds and that these elites were the result of (political) agency rather than belonging to biologically homogeneous groups.

The political economy of energy transitions in Africa: Coalitions, politics and power in Tanzania

The understanding of the political economy of energy transitions in lower-income African countries is little developed. A focus on coalitions has emerged as a promising approach, but it was largely developed based on experiences from higher-income countries. This article has two interrelated purposes. First, it explores and develops the coalition approach to the study of the prioritisation between energy sources in lower-income countries by combining it with a political settlement framework that has been adapted to analysing energy transitions. Secondly, it researches the promotion and implementation of non-hydro renewable energy in mainland Tanzania as a case. The article covers the period from 2008, when the first potent coalitions around private non-hydro renewable energy emerged, up until today. Until recently, these coalitions were overtaken by stronger coalitions around state-owned gas and hydropower. Only with a new president and administration in power and a donor that was pragmatic with regard to state ownership did a large-scale solar plant materialize. Based on the Tanzanian example, the article argues first, that large-scale energy projects are of such importance politically that the analysis of coalitions at the sector level must take into account how these coalitions are embedded in a country's broader distribution of power. Secondly, that for renewable energy policies and projects to get implemented they must fit with the priorities and ideas about broader development held by a country's ruling political elite. A number of implications for the study of the political economy of energy transitions are further unfolded in the article.

Sensorimotor Processing in Elite and Sub-Elite Adolescent Sprinters during Sprint Starts: An Electrophysiological Study.

Most studies on sprint performance have focused on kinematics and kinetics of the musculoskeletal system for adults, with little research on the central sensorimotor transmission and processes, especially for adolescent sprinters. This study aimed to determine whether differences in the integrity of the central auditory system and audiomotor transmissions between the elite and sub-elite adolescent sprinters may affect their performance in the 100 m time. Twenty-nine adolescent junior high school students, including elite national-class and sub-elite regional-class athletes, were assessed. Visual and auditory evoked potentials (VEP and AEP) as well as electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) were recorded and analyzed during a sprint start. The electrophysiological results clearly reveal differences in central auditory transmission between elite and sub-elite groups, and between sexes. There were significant differences between elite and sub-elite groups, and during a sprint start, the EEG activities for elite female and male athletes showed significant time-dependent differences in peak amplitudes following the three auditory cues (ready, set, and gunshot). These findings can provide coaches with a more comprehensive consideration for sports-specific selection based on the athletes' individual conditions, e.g., sensorimotor neuroplastic training for providing precise and efficient training methods to improve young sprinters' performance.

Implications of peri-urban land reform programs on urban land markets: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe implemented the Fast-Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in the year 2000. This program has had far-reaching implications on urban development, especially on urban land markets in cities and towns. This paper highlights the implications of the land reform program on urban land markets, using Harare as a case study. The paper is based on document review (policy, academic and development literature) and interviews with key informants with experience and knowledge of the land reform and its associated implications on urban land markets. Our analysis demonstrates that the land reform process in peri-urban spaces was complex and largely driven by political interests. The land reform process distorted the urban planning processes, leading to disparities in the land markets. Such disparities include informal and uncontrolled processes of accessing land and, ultimately, rapid development of informal settlements in the city. Political elites and land barons took advantage of the land reform program extorting money from desperate home-seekers. We conclude that the distortion of urban land markets by politically driven land reform processes negatively affects sustainable urban development. Overall, the paper makes a valuable contribution to the growing literature on land reforms and peri-urban development in Africa, demonstrating the complex and multidimensional implications of land reform programs on peri-urban land markets. Based on the study findings, the paper provides a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving the effectiveness and equity of land reform programs in African peri-urban areas.

Wind Speed Forecasting Based on Phase Space Reconstruction and a Novel Optimization Algorithm

The wind power generation capacity is increasing rapidly every year. There needs to be a corresponding development in the management of wind power. Accurate wind speed forecasting is essential for a wind power management system. However, it is not easy to forecast wind speed precisely since wind speed time series data are usually nonlinear and fluctuant. This paper proposes a novel combined wind speed forecasting model that based on PSR (phase space reconstruction), NNCT (no negative constraint theory) and a novel GPSOGA (a hybrid optimization algorithm that combines global elite opposition-based learning strategy, particle swarm optimization and the genetic algorithm) optimization algorithm. SSA (singular spectrum analysis) is firstly applied to decompose the original wind speed time series into IMFs (intrinsic mode functions). Then, PSR is employed to reconstruct the intrinsic mode functions into input and output vectors of the forecasting model. A combined forecasting model is proposed that contains a CBP (cascade back propagation network), RNN (recurrent neural network), GRU (gated recurrent unit), and CNNRNN (convolutional neural network combined with recurrent neural network). The NNCT strategy is used to combine the output of the four predictors, and a new optimization algorithm is proposed to find the optimal combination parameters. In order to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we compare the forecasting results of the proposed algorithm with different models on four datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the forecasting performance of the proposed algorithm is better than other comparison models in terms of different indicators. The DM (Diebold–Mariano) test, Akaike’s information criterion and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient confirm that the proposed algorithm outperforms the comparison models.

Radical Thought and Political Practice: Officeholding and Accountability in Seventeenth-Century Britain

Abstract This article connects changes in administrative and bureaucratic processes that historians associate with state formation in early modern Britain with overlooked developments in thinking about political accountability. It blends the social history of state administration with intellectual history, and involves synoptic analysis as well as striking case studies. It argues that innovative political thinking emerged from new forms of political practice, and from the experiences of humble officials in the localities. Such individuals were increasingly professionalized and specialized, and their work was increasingly described using the language of trust, public interest, and state’s service. The mid-seventeenth century accentuated the process by which they came to be accountable to a centralized state, not least through the routinization and intensification of quotidian practices associated with enhanced communication between center and locality. Ultimately, the article argues that such processes, as well as more regular and direct interactions between political elites and humble officials, encouraged new kinds of political thinking. These were not quite unintended, but they may not have been fully anticipated either, and they involved innovative attempts to subject higher officials to oversight from “below,” and to legitimize their accountability to an adjudicating public, in ways that may even have had a lasting effect on English political culture.

‘For everything, the local priest is a helper in adversity’: Catholic clergy and the new order in post-Habsburg Tyrol

ABSTRACT Austrian North Tyrol – the northern part of the former Habsburg Crownland not occupied and annexed by Italy after the Great War – is often presented as a redoubt of tradition and religiosity, in which conservative powerbrokers and the Catholic Church easily wielded rural allegiances to their own ends. Such narratives, however, elide the substantial efforts necessary to maintain this system through periods of crisis. In this article, the author investigates how a key group of actors within the Catholic conservative elite – Roman Catholic parish priests – navigated one of these periods: the post-imperial transition. Identifying the Tyrolean clergy as a sub-elite that mediated between higher political elites and the wider population, the author uncovers how local resistance challenged the influence of the Church in the aftermath of the war. In response, priests led a Catholic offensive aimed at winning back their parishes and reaffirming the hierarchies that underlay conservative rule in Austrian Tyrol. Ultimately, through their multiple functions and role as mediators, Tyrolean parish clergy contributed in often-overlooked ways to shoring up Catholic conservative hegemony and extending it across the interwar period.

When your neighbour is the village cadre: allocation of public resources in the social network

ABSTRACT As a key node in the social network, political elites play an important role in the allocation of public resources in developing countries, and they may bring benefits to their neighbours. China’s large-scale poverty alleviation efforts, as well as the nature of China as an acquaintance society, provides us with an opportunity to examine this issue. By using a novel panel of data from a village in China, our results show that households connected to village cadres are more likely to become beneficiaries of poverty alleviation projects than those not connected – the closer the social relationship with village cadres, the greater the benefits. Both favouritism and information transmission are proven to be mechanisms of the connection effect. As such, closely connected networks within communities are conducive to improving the targeting efficiency of public welfare projects, and external supervision is essential for eliminating the favouritism of political elites.

Power, Politics, and the Supernatural: Exploring the Role of Witchcraft Beliefs in Governance for Development

Belief in evil and hidden supernatural forces, generally referred to as witchcraft, is widespread in many parts of the African continent. In addition to affecting individual health, perceived security, and social relations, witchcraft allegations may be used as covert political instruments, resulting in governance challenges such as lack of trust, transparency, administrative delegation, and political accountability. Since witchcraft is commonly associated with physiological and psychological violence, some citizens may be less willing to participate in political activities, including seeking elected office or criticizing political elites for fear of falling victim to witchcraft. The focus of our study is Malawi where large groups in the population believe in the power of witchcraft. We aim to unpack how local witchcraft beliefs have a bearing on governance – whether, and the extent to which, witchcraft influences how citizens understand and practice transparency and accountability in everyday life. Particularly, the belief in witchcraft among Malawian elites’ warrants closer scrutiny, especially since existing literature and local discourse on the impact of witchcraft tend to largely focus on rural and less educated groups in the population. As the highly secret and complex dimensions of witchcraft resist clear-cut definitions, representations, and analysis, it is not our intention to describe witchcraft in everyday life. Rather, we explore the potential political implications of not addressing elite discourses of and belief in witchcraft. We find that belief in witchcraft can influence citizens’ perceptions of power and authority and can potentially undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and processes.