Rival Leaders Research Articles

Covert politics of competing leadership: Antonio Orendain, Cesar Chavez, and union politics in the Rio Grande Valley, 1965-1982

ABSTRACT This life history account illustrates the covert politics of sabotage, purging, and the defeat of defecting and rival factions that occurred within the United Farm Workers in Texas. I draw on Robert Michels’ framework of competing leadership to illustrate the mechanisms established leadership can use to sabotage, purge, and the eliminate rival leaders, in particular maverick and threatening leaders. This case study draws on the history of the Texas Farm Workers Union, led by Antonio Orendain in the 1970s, and its conflict with the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez. I argue that Orendain’s maverick leadership and independent union activity led the UFW leadership to 1) actively block resources such as money and supplies to Orendain, 2) leverage political connections to blacklist Orendain’s campaign for collective bargaining, and 3) write Orendain out of the UFW narrative and memory in Texas. These moments provide an opportunity to reveal the covert and complex politics of controlling the direction, resources, and objectives of labour movements. Moreover, this paper also seeks to document the organizing career of one of the founders of the UFW who earned the moniker ‘The Cesar Chavez of Texas’.

A Critical Analysis of Talisman by Walter Scoot

This novel focuses on the Third Crusade which had been triggered by the conquest in 1187 of almost the whole of Palestine, including Jerusalem, by Salah-ed-Din Yusef ibn Ayub or Saladin. The plot revolves around the Crusaders' camp in the Holy Land which is being torn apart by tensions between rival leaders. The most influential, Richard the Lionheart, is ill, which accentuates the divisions among the Christian forces. On a mission far from the camp, the poor Scottish crusader Sir Kenneth, or the Knight of the Leopard, comes across a Saracen emir with whom, after inconclusive combat, he strikes up a friendship. The emir is none other than Saladin himself. He manages to gain access to the Christian camp by disguising himself as a physician sent to Richard the Lionheart, whom he quickly cures with the aid of the talisman of the novel's title. Sir Kenneth is entrusted to guard the banner of England during the night but he is lured from his post by Queen Berengaria, Richard's wife, who has an urgent message for him from Edith Plantagenet with whom Sir Kenneth is enamoured. During his absence the English flag is torn down and his faithful hound wounded. Sir Kenneth is dishonoured and only escapes execution thanks to the emir who agrees to take him as his slave. Saladin treats Kenneth kindly before the knight returns to the camp disguised as a mute attendant to King Richard, whom he saves from assassination. Richard sees through Sir Kenneth's disguise but awards him the chance to find the man who wounded his hound and tore down the banner. As the forces march past the re-erected standard the hound leaps upon Richard's rival, Conrade of Montserrat, and brings him down from his horse. A trial by combat is arranged between Conrade and Sir Kenneth which the Scottish knight wins. Afterwards Sir Kenneth is revealed to be Prince David of Scotland. His royal status thus entitles him to pursue his union with Edith Plantagenet.

Changing media representations of enemy leaders: A comparison between the Israeli–Palestinian and the Northern Ireland conflicts

In times of conflict, the media tend to create a dichotomy between ‘us’ and ‘them’, which emphasizes the justice of ‘our’ side and the viciousness of ‘the enemy’. In this way, the media not only reflect an existing political reality but also contribute to its construction. But do the media also work in the opposite direction and may contribute to the advancement of peace processes through complex and multi-dimensional coverage of the enemy? The present study examines whether and how mass media change the images of enemy leaders during peace accords compared to violent pre-agreement periods. For this purpose, an analytical framework of seven parameters was developed, analyzing the media coverage of rival leaders in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat) and the conflict in Northern Ireland (David Trimble and Gerry Adams). The findings indicate that the media portrayal of the leaders has changed significantly on three out of four sides: the Irish-Unionist, the Irish-Nationalist, and the Palestinian. The conclusion is that positive change in media representations of enemy leaders may accelerate emerging peace processes and improve the social climate toward them.

Gauss–Seidel Method for Multi-leader–follower Games

The multi-leader–follower game has many applications such as the bilevel structured market in which two or more enterprises, called leaders, have initiatives, and the other firms, called followers, observe the leaders’ decisions and then decide their own strategies. A special case of the game is the Stackelberg model, or the single-leader–follower game, which has been studied for many years. The Stackelberg game may be reformulated as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints, which has also been studied extensively in recent years. On the other hand, the multi-leader–follower game may be formulated as an equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints, in which each leader’s problem is an mathematical program with equilibrium constraints. However, finding an equilibrium point of an equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints is much more difficult than solving a single mathematical program with equilibrium constraints, because each leader’s problem contains those variables which are common to other players’ problems. Moreover, the constraints of each leader’s problem depend on the other rival leaders’ strategies. In this paper, we propose a Gauss–Seidel type algorithm with a penalty technique for solving an equilibrium problem with equilibrium constraints associated with the multi-leader–follower game, and then suggest a refinement procedure to obtain more accurate solutions. We discuss convergence of the algorithm and report some numerical results to illustrate the behavior of the algorithm.

The Perpetuated Hostility in the Inter-Korean Rivalry: A Theory of Multilevel Veto Players and the Persistence of South-North Korean Rivalry, 1954-2007

The paper begins with the simple questions of why and how South-North Korean rivalry or inter-Korean rivalry has persisted for decades. To answer these questions, I develop a theory of multilevel veto players and test the hypotheses drawn from the theory for the case of the hostile relations between South and North Korea from 1954 to 2007. Central to the theory is that maintenance of the rivalry is the result of rival leaders’ efforts to maximize either the national interests of their country or their own personal interest—staying in power—subject both to the external constraint of great power intervention and to the internal constraint of challenges by hardline veto groups. By applying this theory to the case of the inter-Korean rivalry from 1954-2007, the paper finds that the leaders of South and North Korea have maintained their hostile relations over the past five decades because they believe that maintaining the relations will help them either maximize their nation’s security interest or increase their chances of remaining in power, subject to the constraints. Specifically, the constraints have prevented the rival leaders from resolving the issues in dispute on the battlefield or at a negotiation table, making the inter-Korean rivalry persist acros time. The findings offer a contribution to an enhanced understanding of the maintenance process in international rivalries, most notably the inter-Korean rivalry.

Hierarchical partitions of social networks between rivaling leaders.

A model algorithm is proposed to imitate a series of of consecutive conflicts between leaders in social groups. The leaders are represented by local hubs, i.e., nodes with highest node degrees. We simulate subsequent hierarchical partitions of a complex connected network which represents a social structure. The partitions are supposed to appear as actions of members of two conflicted groups surrounding two strongest leaders. According to the model, links at the shortest path between the rival leaders are successively removed. When the group is split into two disjoint parts then each part is further divided as the initial network. The algorithm is stopped, if in all parts a distance from a local leader to any node in his group is shorter than three links. The numerically calculated size distribution of resulting fragments of scale-free Barabási-Albert networks reveals one largest fragment which contains the original leader (hub of the network) and a number of small fragments with opponents that are described by two Weibull distributions. A mean field calculation of the size of the largest fragment is in a good agreement with numerical results. The model assumptions are validated by an application of the algorithm to the data on political blogs in U.S. (L. Adamic and N. Glance, Proc. WWW-2005). The obtained fragments are clearly polarized; either they belong to Democrats, or to Republicans. This result confirms that during conflicts, hubs are centers of polarization.

How networks split when rival leaders emerge

In a model social network, two hubs are appointed as leaders. Consecutive cutting of links on a shortest path between them splits the network in two. Next, the network is growing again till the initial size. Both processes are cyclically repeated. We investigate the size of a cluster containing the largest hub, the degree, the clustering coefficient, the closeness centrality and the betweenness centrality of the largest hub, as dependent on the number of cycles. The results are interpreted in terms of the leader’s benefits from conflicts.

Explaining the Maintenance Process of International Rivalries

Other SectionsAbstractINTRODUCTIONTHE LITERATURE ON RIVALRY MAINTENANCETHEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: A MODIFIED TWO-LEVEL GAME APPROACHCASE STUDY: THE PERSISTENCE OF THE SECOND GRECO-TURKISH RIVALRY, 1958-2001A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN GREEK-TURKISH RIVALRYSECURITY TIES AND FAILURES OF BATTLEFIELD SOLUTIONS IN THE GRECO-TURKISH RIVALRYHARD-LINE VETO PLATERS AND FAILURES OF NEGOTIATED SOLUTIONS IN THE GRECO-TURKISH RIVALRYCONCLUDING REMARKSTableFootnoteReference

Rumor Dynamics in Ethnic Violence

Most scholars believe that rumors spark ethnic violence around the world, yet political scientists have been slow to understand the dynamics of these rumors, including whether they emerge and survive as a matter of course or require certain preconditions. Because empirical observation cannot readily answer this question, we use agent-based modeling to explore whether rumor survival depends on selected group follower and leader characteristics. Our first set of experiments assumes one group. They show that violence-promoting rumors are not inevitable, nor are group leaders necessary for their propagation. But rumor survival peaks when leaders espouse extreme beliefs and interact frequently with their followers. Our second set of experiments assumes rival groups whose members interact on a limited basis. Some of the experiments confirm the one-group conclusions. Others reveal that when one group's leaders persist in advocating moderation, rumor propagation remains low in both groups. Finally, when rival leaders try to outbid each other, rumor survival increases markedly in both groups. By way of conclusion, we consider the policy implications of these findings.

Matthew's Christian Jewish Community (review)

Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 196 Reviews In conclusion, there is an absence of documentation which cannot be justified on the methodological level: the New Testament (another would perhaps be the Targums). It is true that "Christian claims about Jesus' Davidic status cannot be used to establish what general Jewish messianic expectations were like in the first century CE" (p. 261). But, cleansed of their theological (christological) intentions, that is, read (like the Old Testament) in a purely historical way, the New Testament and the Gospels in particular remain-just as the texts of Qumran or those of Flavius Josephus-a primary source for the Jewish traditions of the epoch, which a historian must consider if he does not want to make a mistake that is both identical and contrary to that of the Christian theological tradition. But these are perplexities that do not detract from the book's interest. Its merit is to enter with originality into a discussion of the Davidic tradition , which others today have tackled with growing vivacity, even if, perhaps , in a generally more traditional manner (see the first number of Ricerche storico-bibliche 1995, devoted to "Davide: modelli biblici e prospettive messianiche"). Giorgio Jossa Universita di Napoli Naples, Italy MATTHEW'S CHRISTIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY. By Anthony Saldarini. Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism. Pp. vii + 317. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Paper, $17.95. Anthony Saldarini's erudite monograph proposes that Matthew's church is a deviant group within the larger Jewish community. Clearly articulated from the very first pages of the Introduction, the theory is given its rationale in seven issues that constitute each chapter of the monograph. Chapter 1 emphasizes the first century diversity and fluidity of both Jewish and Christian communities. Thus, the fact that Matthew's church is Christian does not preclude its participation in Judaism. The second chapter re-examines those texts most frequently cited as proofs that Matthew's church has rejected "Israel." The problematic Matt 27:25 (And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children.") understandably receives special attention. Saldarini holds that "all the people" is a "social description of the main body of Israel associated with the center: Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 197 Reviews Jerusalem and its leadership" (p. 33; emphasis mine). The Jewish mission as a whole is still viable. Chapter 3 wrestles with the issue of Matthew's relation to his opponents. The denunciations of Pharisees and Saducees and especially the three parables which seem to justify the rejection of Israel (Matt 21:28-22:14) should be seen as arguments with "rival leaders and their competing programs for understanding and living Judaism" (p. 67). Saldarini holds that a symbolic interpretation has been given to material intended for local, in-house conflicts. Most of Chapter 4 treats Matthew's intended meaning for ethne. A painstaking verbal analysis leads Saldarini to conclude that Matthew does not use it as a term for Gentiles, but rather in the more general Greek way, as a designation for the entire world, in other words, Gentiles as well as Jews in the diaspora. Given this understanding, Jesus' seeming shift from a mission to Israel in Matt 10:6, 15:24 to the ethne in Malt 24:14 cannot be a substitution, but rather a broadening out to include the world. For Saldarini, Matthew's community is still very much involved in the Jewish mission. In Chapter 5, the proposal of Matthew's community as a deviant group within Judaism receives special attention. Appealing to modem sociological theory, Saldarini rightly notes that hostility towards opponents is no guarantee of separation between the two but indeed may signal an intense involvement. Matthew's community designation of ekklesia is seen as a sign of their inclusion in the Jewish community, but as a persecuted minority. Warning his readers against the unfair application of third century C.E. concepts of ekklesia to Matthew's reality, Saldarini also cautions the reader against drawing on Paul and Acts for evidence of Matthew's community organization. For Saldarini, the fact that, despite the several possible group designations available in the first century, Matthew's community chose ekklesia, a term...

Resistance Theatre in South Korea: Above and Underground

Ed. Note: Since the author's visit to Korea in November and December 1986, there have been important political events not anticipated by this article. Violent street protestsfor democratic changeforced the government to announce the first election in 16 years. The 17 December 1987 election was won by former president Chun Doohwan's hand-picked successor Roh Tae Woo, who, after 85 percent of the vote had been counted, had 36.5 percent of the vote. The two rival leaders of the divided opposition were reported to have won a combined total of 53 percent of the vote (Haberman 1987:1). The opposition charged widespread fraud in the election and continued their protests. We do not know for sure, but we assume that political theatre such as that described by van Erven continues to animate the Korean scene. We plan a follow-up report covering postelection changes and protest performance during the Summer 1988 Olympics.

Rival Leadership in Corinth

IBLE teachers approach First Corinthians with a mixture of joy and fear. Its moral lessons, its sensible and moderate instructions, its stress on Christian unity, its praise of love as the chief virtue, its revelation of Paul and the apostolic churchall are eagerly anticipated. But this letter contains also problems that are among the most difficult in the whole New Testament. Higher criticism has a severe task with this letter, and has not been able yet to reach a definitive solution to the problems of introduction. Further, Paul's reference to being baptized on behalf of the dead (15:29), his argument for the inferiority of women (11:3-16), and his apparently quasi-magical view of the injurious effects of the Lord's Supper on the unworthy (11:29-30), challenge the instructor's ingenuity to the utmost. Modem students are not satisfied with the older explanations, and tend to appreciate more a frank recognition of the most apparent meaning of the text. Then too, in addition to the problems of introduction and those of concepts difficult (or impossible) to justify to the modern mind, there are those problems which are simply obscure. With these, it not that the meaning of the text apparent but difficult to accept, but that the meaning itself not clear. Chief among these the problem of the factions that apparently had developed in Corinth between Paul's departure and the writing of this letter. Healing these factions seems to have been one of the chief concerns of the letter, and the first four chapters are devoted almost exclusively to it. That there was a quarrel in Corinth universally admitted. The Christians of that city were splitting up into factions, under rival leaders. The basis of the quarrel was a disagreement over the leaders, with some following one, and others another. What I mean, wrote Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12), is that each one of you says 'I belong to Paul,' or 'I belong to Apollos,' or 'I belong to Cephas,' or 'I belong to Christ'. At first glance, the problem of the leadership of these factions simple; the leaders are here enumerated as Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ. But further examination of the evidence raises doubts about the validity of the initial impression. These doubts are serious enough to warrant a careful examination of the problem. If there was a diversity of leadership in Corinth at all, we can be sure that Paul was one of the principal leaders. He founded the Christian community there (1 Corinthians 3:6, 10; 4:15; 9:2; 2 Corinthians 10:14; Acts 18:1-17), and it cannot reasonably be doubted that his personal converts, at least for the most part, felt that they owed their new life in Christ to Paul and no other. It to him that they turn when difficulties arise, as witnessed by the letter they wrote (1 Corinthians 7:1) while Paul was working in Ephesus. But after his departure from Corinth, other evangelists arrived, and their role in the rise of the factions not so easily established. Apollos mentioned next in the list in 1 Corinthians 1:12. Since he reported in Acts 18:27 to have gone to Corinth, and since Paul refers to him in his letters as one well-known to the Corinthians, it can be assumed without further question that he did visit Corinth sometime after Paul had left. Apollos described in Acts as a Jewish native of Alexandria, an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures (18:24), and apparently a Christian before his arrival at Ephesus. He was a Christian, however, who knew only the baptism of John (18:25). In Ephesus, he was instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, who expounded to him the way of God more accurately (18:26). The exact meaning here may never be fully recovered to the satisfaction of everyone, but a more likely explanation, considering Acts 19: * Since September, 1951, Assistant Professor of the History and Literature of the Bible at Scarritt College for Christian Workers