Process Of Political Development Research Articles

The socio-cultural dynamics of development: part 1 development, growth and globalisation

PurposeAgency involves dynamic socio-cultural processes that facilitate development. This paper is written in three parts. In Part 1, there are two purposes, the first purpose is to intimately connect agency and institutional theory, and the second purpose is to explore the relationship between agency development and growth and globalisation. In Part 2, the purpose will be to explore development with respect to the political context by explaining in terms of culture under what conditions political groups may come to power. Using political frames intended to define their nature and realities, political groups seek to attract agents in their political sphere to gain administrative power. In Part 3, the purpose will be to model, using cybernetic agency theory, the nature of development and its reduction to instrumentality.Design/methodology/approachIn this part of the three-part paper, development theory is explained as a multidisciplinary field in which research and theories are clustered together and set within an adaptive institutional activity system framework. An adaptive activity system has a plural membership of agents represented by agency. Agency represents an activity system that will be argued to operate through its institutional metasystem. This enables activity system development to be explained as a process of institutional evolution. In Part 1, the problem will be addressed of how the relationship between agency and institution enables institutional change. To resolve this agency will be shown to be institutional in nature, and agency development as a process of institutional evolution. To distinguish between development and growth/globalisation, agency will be taken to have an internal and external context. Distinction will then be made between development as an internal attribute of agency and its consequences, which may include the external attributes of growth/globalisation. It will also be explained that development may have a less desirable condition when it becomes liquid.FindingsThe three-part paper develops a political development theory that identifies the conditions under which formal political groups are able to promote frames of policy to attract support from autonomous agents that constitute the membership of the activity system, and hence gain agency status. Furthermore, Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity is connected to Sorokin’s theory of socio-cultural dynamics and cultural stability. One result is the notion of liquid development, an unstable condition of development in adaptive activity systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of this research is that, given additional appropriate measurement criteria, it will allow conceptual and empirical methods to be used that will potentially enable political outcomes in complex socio-political environments to be anticipated.Social implicationsThe implication of this research is that it will allow empirical methods to be used that potentially enables political outcomes in complex socio-political environments to be anticipated, given additional appropriate measurement criteria.Originality/valueThe synergy of agency and institutional theories to explain the process of development is new, as well as its application to the political development process in a political landscape. As part of this synergistic process, Bauman’s concept of liquidity is shown to relate to Sorokin’s ideas of socio-cultural change.

The socio-cultural dynamics of development: part 2 the cultural basis of political evolution

PurposeAgency development is inherently a process of institutional evolution. The purpose of this part 2 (of a 3 part) paper is to explore development in the political context, producing a cultural model of political development as institutional evolution, explaining how political groups may come to power culturally. This requires a detailed examination of culture and cultural change, and a study of strategic political frames that define political groups seeking support for political power from agents in a political sphere. During cultural instabilities or social crises, frames may become cynical and embrace liquid persuasion and hence populism.Design/methodology/approachA cultural model for political development is created involving three variables (emotional climate, cultural order and compliance). This enables cultural comparison of different political groups. Strategic political frames are examined to understand how those vying for agency power may attract support from agents in the activity system. Liquid frames are also explored to understand the cynical nature of populism and its contribution to institutional devolution.FindingsA political development theory result that identifies the conditions under which formal political groups can promote frames that may attract support from agents from who they require support to gain agency power status. A model is produced for political development. It explains populism as a thin ideology with a collectivist orientation that uses liquid framing, and it introduces its individualist counterpart, political synergism.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of this research is that it will allow empirical methods to be used that potentially enable political outcomes in complex political environments to be anticipated, given additional appropriate measurement criteria.Originality/valueLinking agency and institutional theory to explain the process of development is new, as is its application to the political development process in a political landscape. As part of this linkage, it has been shown how Bauman’s concept of liquidity relates to Sorokin’s ideas of socio-cultural change.

Functioning of government institutions and development of processes in the political space of the European Union

The author analyzes the political space of the EU as an environment of functioning of political objects and development of political processes, a system of political differences, which strengthen the political hierarchy in the organization and the differentiation of political positions. Legislation adopted at the supranational level should be implemented by member-states or, if it is a directive, converted into national legislation. It is proved that the political and institutional structure of the hierarchy in the EU is relatively weak; it is based not on the independence of European authority, but on selective and overly conditioned transfer of authority of States to supranational institutions; part of national sovereignty is delegated to the States, although the States are sovereign within the EU; national sovereignty is limited to a certain extent and this is a serious obstacle that prevents the development of the authority vertical in the EU. The author emphasizes that this leads to failures in compliance with the rules of hierarchical subordination. Negotiations and cooperation of EU institutions are more organized than at the state level, which indicates the EU as a «Treaty order» or «competitive order». After all, the functioning of the European Single Market creates a pressure of competition on economic entities and on States with their political and economic regimes. The author believes that the solution of problems depends on the clarity of decisions and actions of the EU, which should become more open to political competition. This will promote innovation, highlight developments with the EU and enable citizens to decide who rules in the EU and take sides in the political debate. Institutional reforms have already changed the EU to a more competitive political institution. This approach should take the main place in the development of the EU policy, at least in the short term.
 Keywords: European Union, political space, political process, European authority institutions.

THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY AND THE DIFFICULTY OF THE WAYS OF LIBERALISM: THE CAUSES, MECHANISMS AND PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT

Problem setting. In our opinion, the current crisis of democracy should be investigated in the broad context of the mutual influence of democracy and liberalism, the growth of populist tendencies in the world, the strengthening of authoritarianism, the crisis of liberal institutionalism and the complexity of the draft international law, and in connection with the sum of geopolitical factors.Recent research and publications analysis. The scientific literature discusses widely the problems of the modern crisis of democracy. They are at the center ofattention ofwell- known scholars (Irina Denisenko, Mykhailo Trebin, Ihor Polishchuk, Halyna Kuts, Victoria Pohribna, Olena Sakhan, Chantal Mouffe, Steven Levitsky, Lukan A. Way, Jan Zielonka, Larry Diamond, Daniel Ziblatt, Jordan Kyle, Yascha Mounk, Limor Gultchin, Nadia Urbinati).Paper objective. The purpose of this work is to find out where in the modern world the differences between liberalism and democracy begin. The task is to reach understanding of the threats and possible positive aspects of the affirmation ofpopulism, to point out the places and meaningful centers of critical joins, manifestations or «breakthroughs» of perspectives on political processes, values-orientation shifts, institutional changes.Paper main body. The article attempts to study the modern crisis of democracy in a diverse sense, in the broad context of the mutual influence of democracy and liberalism. The problem of growth of populist movements of various character in the world, their meaningful expression, influence on the transformation of democracy, threats to the combination of democracy and liberalism is analyzed. There are tendencies of increasing authoritarianism, deepening the crisis of the liberal model of institutionalism and the whole draft international law. The separate statistical data of international organizations concerning the degree andforms of distribution of populism have been researched, various scientific approaches concerning variants of further development of populist scenarios under conditions of newest geopolitical changes and strategic interests transformations are considered. An attempt was made to designate places and centers for the content of manifestations or critical moments, «breakthroughs» in prospects for political processes, changes in value orientations, institutional changes. to find the best ways and resources for further development. Attention is drawn to the fact that the crisis of democracy arose on the verge of links between the content of liberalism (with its uncertainty about the collective identity of the past and present) and democracy as a process of tolerance to the plurality of interests and opportunities for their legal representation and advocacy. It was emphasized that a change in the development tendency may occur depending on many factors, including readiness for the consolidated solutions of the elites of the modern worldto overcome all threats and find a balance of national-state and world-scale. interests. It is emphasized that the nature of the resolution of the conflict in Venezuela may have an important precedent that will lead to a quick and qualitative change, which can also create a certain trajectory for the future development ofpolitical processes at various levels. It is also noted that one of the centers of concentration trends is the situation with the final decision of the UK on membership in the European Union.Conclusions of the research. In our opinion, the change in the development trend (on monovectorality, the universality of the path, etc., the issue even is not discussed) can occur depending on many factors, including the readiness for the consolidated solutions of the elites of the modern world to overcome all threats andfind ways to balance the aggregate interests between levels of national-state character and world scale. An important position in designating the prospect is how the situation in Venezuela will end: what will be meaningful and in what style - ruptura pactada or armed conflict - may be a meaningful breakthrough of perspective which will mark orientations in the formation of tendencies. But, perhaps, this situation development, by the law of large numbers, will bring chaos to a level absurd with further non-obvious solutions and conflicting scenarios. One way or another, the solution to the conflict of interest in Venezuela and the solution to the issue of Brexit will be followed by a quick qualitative change, which may also set a certain trajectory for future shifts in political processes at different levels.

HISTORIOGRAPHICAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF «POLITICAL OPPОSITION»

In a democratic society with longstanding traditions, a stable rule of law, political opposition is regarded as a natural phenomenon, because it is an indispensable component, an indicator of democracy and rule of law, the basis of civil society development. The Euro-integration and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of modern Ukraine require the formation of democratic standards and civilized relations between the authorities and the opposition. At the same time, the development of political processes in our country testifies to the complex nature of this interaction. The urgency of the topic is due to the fact that the institutionalization of the opposition in Ukraine is not yet complete. The result of underdevelopment was the ideological and organizational immaturity, the unstructuredness of today's opposition. The article deals with the historiographical and theoretical analysis of the concept of «political opposition». The evolution of ideas about political opposition and its importance in society is investigated. Methodological approaches to the concept of «political opposition», its role in relations with the authorities and participation in the formation of a democratic society are considered, the place and role of the opposition in the political process of modern Ukraine are determined. The historiographical analysis of political and legal scholars gives reason to claim that there is a wide range of approaches to defining the concept of «political opposition». However, common in these scientific reconnaissances is the granting of high-status political opposition along with the power structures and placing great responsibility on it for the nature of the political regime and the civilization of the political process in the state.

Features situational analysis of political instability in the conditions of globalization

In the field of scientific research is the selection and use of approaches for analyzing the state of the political system of society. The collapse of the colonial system, the socialist camp led to the formation of a significant number of states by transitional political regimes. Intensive globalization processes accelerated the already contradictory socio-political processes in transitional and quasi-democratic states. Despite the lack of experience of statehood in some countries, or the lack of democratic political traditions and practices, led to the formation of contradictions between formal and informal rules by the institutions of transitional societies. In the context of the study of the interaction of formal and informal institutions, the question of the use of situational analysis and the synergetic approach, in the process of studying the causes, consequences and the essence of political stability of the instability, is actualized. In cases of situational analysis, it is especially important to note that the essence of the method consists in studying both formal institutions (organizational forms) and informal (practices, models and rules of the game) - as the main subjects and objects of the political process. At the same time, if the situational analysis simply states the presence of certain formal or informal designs, the synergetic approach allows us to trace the dynamics and development of political processes. Considering the political system in which energy acts as the information produced by such formal institutions as political parties and organizations, the synergetic method allows us to consider the system as a self-regulating organization capable of arming the manifestations of political instability. Or vice versa - as a system artificially restraining social entropy, and therefore doomed to destruction, as a result of the action of attractors: economic, political, social, environmental, in the cases of our research.With the help of general scientific (historical, systematic, functional, sociological), general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy, abstraction) and the methods of politological theoretical and applied learning (institutional, structural comparative, comparative, axiological, behavioral), the analysis of the influence of non-institutional factors on the procedural, organizational and structural aspects of the political system is performed. Research allows us to reveal the essence, structure and consequence of existing processes in the political system. The synergistic method and situational approach details the existing processes, enabling to conduct a correct analysis of the relevant processes. Thus, it can be concluded that these two methods make it possible to qualitatively evaluate and demand. This allows us to correct the actual political practice, towards stabilizing the political environment.

The Political Geography of Legal Integration

How are processes of political development structured across space and time by preexisting institutions? This article develops a spatiotemporal theory of institutional change by analyzing the evolving infrastructural power of the European Union's legal order using geospatial methods. Specifically, the authors theorize that the pattern and pace of the domestic spread of EU law has been shaped by preexisting state institutions—particularly by the degree to which national judiciaries are hierarchically organized. To assess this claim, the article compares patterns of domestic judicial enforcement of EU law across France (a unitary state with a centralized judiciary), Italy (a weaker unitary state with a centralized judiciary), and Germany (a federal state with a decentralized judiciary). Developing a geospatial approach to the study of legal integration and historical institutionalism more broadly, the authors leverage an original geocoded data set of cases referred to the European Court of Justice by national courts to visualize how the subnational penetration of Europe's supranational legal order is conditioned by state institutions.

An old monarchy, a new democracy and gross national happiness in Bhutan: A holistic approach for sustainable development.

In the 21st century Bhutan has re-established its geopolitical identity by adopting a new system of government, a new constitution and also creating a global interest in their policy of Gross National Happiness. Leo Rose, in his seminal 1977 work, “The Politics of Bhutan”, observes that there is “no other political system presently extant with which the Bhutanese polity is comparable in either its ‘traditional’ polity or its process of political development.” In 2008 Bhutan adopted a democratic system of government, against the will of the people by the monarchy. The new democracy still works with the consent of the 5th King of Bhutan, as the Head of State. The new governance structure of Bhutan is intrinsically tied to its holistic state policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which Bhutan adopted as a state policy, pioneered by the 4th king in 1972. This paper discusses the process of democratization in Bhutan and role of the monarchy in the new governance. This paper examines how the new governance structure of Bhutan, has succeeded in adapting to the state policy of GNH. The paper is based on fieldwork in Bhutan, and interviews with government officials including the Speaker of the National Assembly, journalists and other researchers in Bhutan involved with implementing the policy of GNH under the new democratic government. The research seeks to answer the following questions: How has Bhutan made the transition from Monarchy to Democracy? What is the role of the Monarchy in the new democratic Bhutan? How has the new government implemented the policy of GNH? What has been the impact of GNH on the people, including the different ethnicities living in Bhutan? What has been the international response to GNH? Despite challenges, the new governance in Bhutan, has developed a holistic vision of sustainable development for its people under the banner of Gross National Happiness.

METHODOLOGY AND PRAXEOLOGY RESEARCHES OF POLITICAL PROCESSES

The theoretical methodological analysis of political processes in this article allows probing their nature, specific and practices of development. A political process can be interpreted as a system action of all of subjects and objects of policy for realization of public power; activity related to forming, development, transformations and functioning of the political system.The greatest cognitive potential is contained by the paradigms of institutionalism, structurally functional, behaviorism and theory of «rational choice». Institutional approach in political discourse presents the political institutes as dominant «system of co-ordinates» in development of political process. Structurally functional methodology accents attention on an underlying structure and functions of the political system, on the role of social environment in a process. A political process in the theory of «rational choice» is often described as a «public choice», or as certain variations of «scenarios of games». This methodology has wide application: for the estimation of operating international relations and their prospects; to the prognosis of parliamentary activity of factions from forming of coalition, political blocks or groups; at the analysis of electoral conduct of citizens.Prakseology of political processes most expressly demonstrate them scientific typology’s, which was carried out scientists on the base of different criteria. For a scale, allocate the political processes of macro-level, which characterize political development at level held or regions of planet (historical, global; western and «unwestern»; evolutional, revolutionary). Processes micro-level are concrete political events, daily relations of different subjects politicians, which are related to practical realization of individual, group or corporate interests (political co-operation is in a government, parliament, parties, regions of country, structures of local-authority). When a democratic political culture consists in basis of political co-operation of subjects, in society the horizontally organized process is formed on the base of principles of consocial democracy; when a policy is based on an etatism and authoritarian culture, there is the apeak organized political process.Political processes in the post of totalitarian states of Eurasia, Central and East Europe, which Ukraine belongs to, is extremely contradictory – is investigation of the transitional state of society; presence of political subcultures; dysfunctions of institutes of «hybrid» democracy; instabilities of the party and electoral systems; oligarchic of economy; property differentiation of population; corruptions and braking of reforms.A world political process of contemporaneity is a computer-integrated, global process, which represents the various activities of nation-states and those legitimate organs, international organizations and motions (world or continental scale); it – political activity of all of subjects of international relations is consolidated. The specific of world political process is that here the unique, legitimate «center of compulsion» absents with the proper political legal jurisdiction. Consequently, the problem of «balance of powers and interests» acquires ponderability, as a factor of stability (or instabilities) of worldwide policy is important. This process characterizes: variety of political development and different social and political forces; special methods of realization of world power; difficult aggregate of civilization, transnational and peripheral, regional, national and local political processes.Thus, progressive evolution of the civilized people and countries directed anymore on the construction of the democratic, legal state on the base of political pluralism, rights and freedoms of man, developed national economy and culture, high level of welfare and social defense of citizens.

The societal dimensions of political development in Yemen and its components: الأبعاد المجتمعية للتطور السياسي في اليمن ومقوماته

The importance of this study is that it seeks to analyze Community structure of reality of the process of political development in Yemen with its multiple dimensions economically, socially, politically and culturally, to know the mutual influence between these dimensions and variables, considering that this interaction is the natural entrance to creating comprehensive community development, because development cannot be achieved on one side without the rest of the other which is called the dialectical relationship between Epitaxial construction and infrastructure of the community. This is what the study seeks to shed light on through the scientific analysis of this interactive relationship. The main objectives of the study are to highlight the importance of societal reality as the social carrier of political development, as society is the area in which, through which and for which, politics is practiced. The study also aims at identifying the obstacles to political development in Yemen. The most important conclusion of the study is that the process of political transformation in Yemen towards political pluralism and multi-party which occurred in 1990, was in the context of a traditional tribal community reality, one of most important of its characteristics is that power is a source of wealth, strength and prestige in society. This peculiarity intersects completely with the culture of political and party pluralism as a modern concept on the one hand, and the necessity of stability of the political system and the availability of objective conditions for the growth and development of democracy, as the most important social mechanisms to solve the problem of community decision-making among groups where conflict of interests and other political and intellectual beliefs on the other hand . In this sense, the possibility of political development based on multi-partyism for the peaceful transfer of power in a traditional sociological reality with its various dimensions seems weak in practice. This requires the search for a mechanism that will make multiparty and political a means of modernization and development rather than fighting and rivalry which deepens underdevelopment, and this requires the participation of all in the cause of political advancement and development as an independent variable leading to social development, to the extent that social reality becomes the independent variable which positively affects the process of political evolution as a dependent variable, based on successful human experiences in the process of transition from the traditional social reality to the state of modernity and contemporary which is embodied by the existence of a modern civil state based on political and civil institutions represented by political parties and civil society organizations which is called good governance based on the rule of law, equality and social justice. Hence, it is possible to talk about the achievement of the process of political development quantitatively and quantitatively, which is the situation we miss in Yemen, which led to the absence of political vision and the lack of clarity of the objectives of democratic practices based on the right to diversity of political and intellectual as an expression of a similar diversity in social construction as an inevitable fact that cannot be denied or ignored.

Political Development and the Influential and Distributive Crises

Political development theorists believe that political societies, in their development stages, subject to a series of quintuple crises (identity, legitimacy, participation, and influence, distributive). These crises are either in terms of increasing level of development in some communities toward the environment, or to the contrary, in terms of backward countries’ failure to cope with environmental changes. Countries, especially third world countries in transitions to political development, undergo crises, including the crisis of penetration and distributive, which in the absence of empowerment in overcoming these crises; the communities will have problems and anomalies. This article aims to analyze the penetration and distributive and to examine the role of these crises in the political development process.

Роль виртуального протеста в системе протестной общественной коммуникации

The article is devoted to the issue of using means of the Internet in the protest communication system. In the context of politics the possibilities of the Internet as a source are not fully researched. The author analyzes socio-political phenomenon of virtual protest and its value in the development of political process, considers so-called ‘hacktivism’ as a new kind of political participation and evaluates prospectives of using the Internet as a powerful instrument of protest activity. The issues, which can create possibilities of social networks and their role in social communication, are specially highlighted. The important part of the article is devoted to observing protests in Russia at the end of 2011 and at the beginning of 2012 and the events of the Arab spring as well as influence of social networks on those events.

الترشيح الحزبي وأثره على السلم الأهلي الجزائر نموذجاً

The majority of the political parties in Algeria including the ruling ones, have lost their credibility among the masses, and despite what these parties are enjoying (power and money), they failed miserably in providing qualified candidates that enjoy the respect of millions of Algerian voters at the level of the parliament and municipal councils. These paper focuses of the reality of political action in the Algerian political parties and the role these parties play in the political development process. It is vital to address de various social needs and the economic development of society to deal with the various conflicts and urgent demands of the society. Equality through political participation and the transition from a culture of submission and clapping, to a culture of participation and monitoring through public election, or by increasing the areas of political mobilization, in addition for the core issue of competence based public office candidates a important issues to deal with. The weakness of political parties in Algeria, and the lack of effectiveness have contributed to underdevelopment poverty and ignorance. Studies and statistics indicate that political parties failed to build a strong, active system. Progress will only take place through the nomination of qualified members whatever their convictions and affiliations. Development of laws and regulation that can lead society towards modernity and urbanization as well as the restructuring of public and political are necessary. The next step is to discuss loyalty, affiliation and participation on all levels to inspire individuals and groups. The responsibility of the political parties in finding an outlet for the country is represented in enabling qualified people to lead the community. This is not less important than providing medicine, food and housing for the community. At present, members of the political parties have absolute power and freedom (in the absence of law binding regulation), but do not have the best interest of the people in mind. The recent elections in Algeria, has been the last nail in the coffin of democracy and positive political practice. This research paper will focus on: first, reading the structure and orientation of the active political parties in Algeria nowadays; secondly, efficiency and fairness between partisan rhetoric and personal loyalties; thirdly, the impact of policies and practices in the short and long terms; and finally, the reco.

Ethnicity and Political Development in Iran

Today, the ethnicity phenomenon and its relation with political development is one of the important concerns of developing societies. In societies without government and axis, ethnic groups and ethnicity play an important role in the ups and downs of the ruling party. The presence of the government-axis phenomenon in the history of Iran has caused the country to have less tribal and ethnic conflicts. However, the governments formed from autocratic thoughts and coup d’etat have tried to strengthen their legitimacy through nationality (forced nation building) and create division between ethnic groups. The Pahlavi period was the golden era of ethnicity and nationalist views. Thus, the then government played a major role in restricting the participation of ethnic groups in governmental issues. This is while the occurrence of the Islamic Revolution was a turning point in expedition of political development followed by political participation. In other words, the climate after the Revolution caused the role of ethnic groups in political interaction to attain a social aspect. On this basis, there are two hypothesis about ethnicity and political development in the two different periods, namely before and after the Revolution: 1. Participation of ethnic groups in the political arena had a nationalistic aspect and led to a downward trend in political development. 2. Participation of the ethnic groups after the Revolution had a social nature and led to political development. The hypothesis is that there is a basic relationship between ethnicity and political development. In other words, the main question posed is, what are the effects of ethnicity on the process of political development in form of participation? The answer is, the participation of the ethnicity has a great effect in political development. The period for analysis in this hypothesis includes 1. Pahlavi era; 2. The period after the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, two hypotheses comprise the main idea of the present paper: 1. The nationalistic view before the Revolution led to reduction in political participation. 2. Societal policy for ethnicity caused ethnic groups to grow and develop after the Islamic Revolution.

Influencing Factors of Political Development of Iran, 1953-1979

This article is going to review the major factors of political development in Iran. Political development process had been a new concept usable in twentieth century. So, Iran is one of those societies which were going to change in political thoughts. In this article, researcher reviews the capabilities of political system in Iran. In the next part, the factors of political development have been realized response of political elites who do reaction to developments and make changes in context of the society upon Iran. In the third part, analyzing of Iran’s political development illustrates the barriers of political development in Iran since 1953 to 1979. In the last part the article concludes that the process of political development was affected by the common sense rose up from society context of Iran by these important factors.

Political Development Concept by Looking Briefly at the Iran’s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Rule

Concept of political development such as other concepts of political science has a lack of consensus among researchers and scholars. This article is going to review the concept of political development. It begins with an overview on definitions of political development. Presumably, it presents different aspects and characteristics of political development. This article establishes Iran’s efforts towards political development during Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Rule. Moreover, this article concludes that process of political development in Iran was affected by two main theories of political development by some western and Iranian political thinker’s definition on this concept.

Politics and Opposition in Kuwait: Continuity and Change

This article examines the post-2006 political instability in Kuwait in light of the historical processes of political development in the emirate. It illustrates how recurring patterns of political contestation have resulted in a hybrid system divided uneasily between an elected assembly and an appointed government. The article identifies the tensions in Kuwait's political system resulting from the steady rise in the bar of political opposition over the past decade as well as mounting imbalances within both the ruling family and the political opposition. As boundaries of permissible activity have been tested and exceeded, neither the al-Sabah nor the established political groups have known how to respond, making Kuwait politics at once dynamic, fluid, and relentlessly unstable. Neither an archetypal monarchy nor a genuinely pluralistic state, Kuwait defies easy categorisation and merits special attention as the “rules of the game” are being rewritten in an intensely politicised and increasingly heated atmosphere.

Facile Acronyms and Tangled Processes: A Re-Examination of the 1990s ‘DDR’ In Uganda

Uganda's mass discharge of serving military personnel in the 1990s is touted as one of the most successful cases of donor-supported Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). However, a closer look at that process reveals a much more complex and less dogmatic approach to managing armed factions than the linearly conceived model often encountered in the ‘peacebuilding’ literature. Contrary to common assumptions about that country's conflict management, particularly after the ascendance in 1986 of the Museveni government, the newly installed regime deliberately eschewed the policy of ‘demobilization’ and, in the process, made disarmament unnecessary, primarily by resisting donor pressure to subordinate long-haul pacification to short-term fiscal considerations. Using Uganda as a case study and DDR as a reference point, the article calls for a less perfunctory approach to the interpretation and management of the multifaceted processes of political development in the conflict-plagued pre-industrial countries of the Third World.

Liberal parliamentarianism in Mexico. Notes for reflection: the parliamentary representation of the State of Puebla in the Mexican National Congresses, 1833–56

After achieving independence from the Spanish colonial dominion, a process of political development began in Mexico, tending towards setting up the nation-state while creating and consolidating its own institutions following a liberal political model. This resulted in the beginning of the parliamentarization of Mexican political life and the changing of the ruling classes – with certain filtering – opening up the way to a new political/parliamentary elite linked to diverse liberal options. This article sets out to propose some initial thoughts and debate around one of the most overlooked aspects of the first liberalism in Mexico: the political protagonists of the Mexican parliamentary stages that witnessed the consolidation process of the liberal state model that was representative in the country. To do so, as one of the main research methodologies in terms of the parliamentary participants, basic biographical profiles and prosopographical analysis are set out in this article. In this case, partial results are presented of a specific case study, from which partial conclusions and comparative guidelines are presented. This case focuses on parliamentary representation of the State of Puebla in the Mexican National Congresses, during the period 1833–56.

Secure electronic identification (eID) in the intersection of politics and technology

There is a growing demand for secure identification systems in online relations. Electronic identification (eID) is becoming a critical issue, both for e–government and for online relations in general. The development of eID is a combination of technical innovations such as system design and regulatory and policy considerations. This paper analyses the development of eID in Sweden, by considering it both as a technical and a political development process co–constructed through policymaking. However, the main conclusion is the lack of political awareness in this process. This is especially noticeable since the process leads to a formation of the embryo of a digital citizenship based on the need for safe and efficient identification within public administration.