Teaching Comparative Government

Pronunciation: \-ˈmi-tənt\ Function: adjective Etymology: Latin intermittent-, intermittens, present participle of intermittere Date: 1601 : coming and going at intervals : not continuous ; also : occasional   — in·ter·mit·tent·ly adverb  Source: Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Intermittent  Retrieved 15 May 2015  It's nearly June of 2018 and the temperature has been over 90°F (32°C) for the last week.  The AP exam is over. I need a break. So do you. Have a great break.  Postings here will be intermittent for awhile.   Remember that nearly all the over 4,300 entries here are indexed. Use the search box in the right hand sidebar to find a country or a concept that you're interested in. And, if your web browser allows it, there's a search box at the top left corner of the blog that will sort through key words. The search box shows up on my Safari and Netscape browsers on my desktop computer but not on my lapto...

Are there political ramifications for this meeting? China to host Iranian President Rouhani China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next month at a regional summit in a Chinese coastal city, the country's foreign ministry said on Monday… Presidents Rouhani and Xi Rouhani will pay a working visit to China and attend the summit of the China and Russia-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organization , the ministry said. It did not give exact dates for his visit, but the summit is scheduled to be held on the second weekend of June in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao. Iran is currently an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, though it has long sought full membership. Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India… Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look fo...

President Xi has frequently mentioned the importance of Marxism. However, some younger Chinese aren't sure about the brand of Marxism Xi is promoting. Why Beijing isn’t Marxist enough for China’s radical millennials Beijing has long gone far to teach China about the father of Communism. Classes on Marx and Marxism are routinely part of the country’s educational curriculum, especially at the university level… [I]n recent years, Marxism has also inspired some young activists in China, who have seen in [the Communist Manifesto] the motivation to boldly press ahead on issues of feminism, workers rights and income equality. In sharp contrast to the official Marxist line, this new generation of Marxists has emphasised individual freedoms, with some even expressing some interest in a constitutional democracy – a stand that the country’s mainstream Marxists and Maoists usually dismiss as hypocritical. For their part, despite Beijing’s official narrative that the party upholds Marxism, so...

If the Nigerian government is funded primarily by oil production, what happens if production falls? Will higher oil prices rescue everyone again? Nigeria’s oil output drops by 150, 000 bpd under Shell’s force majeure NIGERIA’s daily oil output has dropped by 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) as a result of the shutdown of Nembe Creek Trunk Line. In its 2018 budget, the Federal Government had earlier projected to produce 2.3 million bpd at the reference price of $51 per barrel. But with this development the target would not likely be met. But the development has not yet impacted on the market as Vanguard’s survey of the oil markets around the world showed that the price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light was still a little below $80 per barrel… Investigation showed that despite increased government romance with stakeholders in the Niger Delta, the region has continued to record pockets of pipeline vandalism, meaning that oil operations may still under threats of disruptions. In its latest report re...

In the early 1990s, Ken Saro-Wiwa led the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) trying to get recognition of the destruction of the environment in "Ogoniland," a terribly polluted region of southeast Nigeria. His execution/murder in 1995 focused attention on the corrupt and authoritarian government of military ruler Sani Abacha. The movement and the struggle Saro-Wiwa started continue. This report comes from Al Jazeera . The video is about 3 minutes long. Nigeria's Ogoniland: Desperate for clean water In the Ogoni region, 90 percent of the underground water is not fit for human use because of oil pollution. A big clean-up is under way in Ogoniland, but local communities say they have already become victims of water contamination. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Bodo, Nigeria. Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept labels attached to each entry. Just The Facts! 2nd edition is a co...

The dilemmas facing rural migrants in urban China In China’s cities, young people with rural ties are angry Over the past 40 years, hundreds of millions have [moved from village to city], providing the blood, sweat and tears of China’s economic miracle. The Communist Party has often congratulated itself that such a vast movement of people has happened without mass unrest. But those… who have left rural areas more recently challenge the party’s sense of security. They face a wider range of problems than earlier participants in the rural exodus. They are dissatisfied with their lot and have little to lose. They may prove less quiescent than their predecessors. When observers of China think of threats to the party, they often focus on the rapid growth of the country’s new middle class… But many Chinese analysts… fret about turmoil created by members of a social underclass: poor workers in the cities whose family ties are rural… A study published in 2009 in the Beijing-based Economic Res...

China's "Belt and Road" project opens its first connection to Europe. First China-Belgium freight train from China's Tangshan arrived in Antwerp After travelling 16 days and covering a distance of 11,000 km, the first China-Belgium freight train from China's Tangshan port has arrived in the Belgian port of Antwerp. The train with 41 containers which left Tangshan on April 26, was officially welcomed on Saturday in Antwerp. The direct railway link between China and Belgium is part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative… Luc Arnouts, Director International Networks, Antwerp Port Authority, said at the welcoming ceremony that "This direct train link puts our port on the BRI (the Belt and Road Initiative) map and will further strengthen our ties with China. We have long been working on this project, which represents an important milestone in our trade relations with China." In his speech, Guo Jianjun, economic counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in B...

Washington Post reporter Erin Cunningham offers this perspective on the race for president in Iran. His nuclear deal and economy are crumbling, but don’t write off Iran’s president yet The Iranian president’s signature achievement, a landmark nuclear deal with world powers, is starting to unravel, and his economy is in distress even before renewed U.S. sanctions begin to bite, with Iran’s currency swooning to record lows against the dollar. His domestic opponents are clamoring for his resignation… Longtime observers say it is far too early to count Rouhani out. They point to his skills as a shrewd political operator, honed over decades as a government insider, as well as his long-standing ties to Iran’s ruling clerics. For now, Iran’s pragmatist president continues to enjoy the support of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who wields the ultimate authority in the country… The mild-mannered Rouhani, a rotund cleric known for his constant smile, put a fresh, moderate face on Iran’s foreign...

The Chinese company that made shoes for Ivanka Trump's company exports jobs to Ethiopia. Chinese firm featured in government-backed propaganda film accused of labour rights abuses Huajian Group, a company that made shoes for Ivanka Trump and stands accused of serious labour violations plays an unexpected role in a blockbuster propaganda film about China’s renaissance under President Xi Jinping. Huajian factory in Ethiopia The state-backed documentary Amazing China portrays the Huajian Group as a beneficent force spreading Chinese influence and prosperity – in this case, by hiring thousands of Ethiopians at wages a fraction of what they would have to pay in China. But in Ethiopia, Huajian workers told Associated Press they work without safety equipment for pay so low they can barely make ends meet… With epic cinematography, Amazing China articulates a message of how China would like to be seen as it pursues President Xi Jinping’s vision of a globally resurgent nation, against a re...

It's not just on the levels of regime and government that violence affects the political culture. Mexico violence: Clowns protest over Acapulco murder rate Clowns dressed in white marched down a central street in the Mexican resort of Acapulco on Monday demanding an end to the city's crime wave. With their faces painted and carrying signs reading "peace", they said that they were "tired of so much violence". They complained that they were losing business because residents no longer threw parties out of fear of becoming targets of crime… Officials said they had recorded almost 50 more murders in the first three months of 2018 than in the same period last year. Most of the murders are believed to be related to warfare between rival criminal gangs in the region… In January, the US state department prohibited US government employees from travelling to the state of Guerrero, including Acapulco. It warned of armed groups "operating independently of the gove...

While woman are represented in the Nigerian bureaucracy and diplomatic corps, they are not well-represented in electoral politics. Women politicians who will shake 2019 Since the return of democracy in 1999, women have persistently cried marginalization when it comes to clinching electoral offices but many of them have remained undeterred, endlessly making moves to win important positions. There are indications that many of them have rolled up their sleeves ahead of 2019… [O]nly seven out of the 109 senators serving in the 8th National Assembly are women. There is no single woman in many state assemblies and this is amidst clamour by various groups on the need to widen the door for them to have their way during contests… However, with few months to party primaries, some women have defied the odds and thrown their veil into the ring once again. Dr Salma Anas Kolo Dr Salma Anas Kolo : A former Commissioner of Health in Borno State, Dr Kolo is vying for the Borno South Senatorial Dist...

President Xi seems to think that China needs a reminder that it's a socialist country. Stick to Karl Marx’s true path, China’s Communist Party is “totally correct” to stick with Karl Marx’s theory, President Xi Jinping has said in a speech ahead of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the German philosopher whom he described as the “greatest thinker of modern time”. Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has stressed the party must not forget its socialist roots as it works to attain the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”… “We must win the advantages, win the initiative, and win the future. We must continuously improve the ability to use Marxism to analyse and solve practical problems,” Xi said beneath a massive portrait of Marx on a stage bedecked with scarlet and gold curtains. Xi also instructed all party members to adopt the reading of Marxist works and the understanding of Marxist theories as a “way of life” and a “spiritual pursuit”… Today, China, the world’s largest s...

How are the demands on government and the state in Mexico similar to and different from those in Nigeria? Mexico’s murder rate heads for a new record IN APASEO EL GRANDE, a town in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, the bodies are stacking up… In the first three months of this year the municipality of 85,000 people had 43 murders, up from 20 in all of 2016. That is about the same as London, a city 100 times larger and currently panicking about its high murder rate… The town and the state it belongs to are suffering from a double blow. One is a national crime wave, during which the murder rate broke through its previous record of 2011. That peak came after the then president, Felipe Calderón, deployed the army to fight drug gangs. His tactic of capturing or killing kingpins caused the gangs to split into warring factions and to enter new lines of business. The current president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office in 2012, promised to halve the murder rate. Instead, after an ini...

A variation on violence in northern Nigeria brings on more demands on the state and the government. Nigeria Kaduna: Bandits slaughter 51 villagers A gang of what are said to be former cattle rustlers has killed at least 51 adults and children in a village in northern Nigeria, burning down homes… Survivors say the attackers surrounded Gwaska on Saturday afternoon. They set homes alight and fired shots, causing people to flee in panic - many straight towards the gunmen. Residents have demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari's government urgently deploy more police and military to protect vulnerable villages on the state border with Zamfara… Gwaska residents say Saturday's attackers used to be cattle thieves but had turned to banditry in the region's remote villages. The victims include members of a self-defence force, formed after attacks by well-armed cattle thieves… Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed. Use the search box to look for country names or concept la...

It's official, Putin is president. Putin is inaugurated for fourth term as Russian president Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for a fourth term as Russian president and pledged to harness the country's talents to "achieve breakthroughs"… He has been in power for 18 years, as president and prime minister, and opponents have likened his tenure to the reign of a tsar, or emperor… On Saturday riot police confronted protesters against his rule in Moscow and other Russian cities. More than 1,000 arrests are said to have been made in 19 cities. The biggest complaint among Russians surveyed by the Levada Centre, a major sociological research body, was that Mr Putin had failed to reduce the wealth gap (the top complaint for 45% of respondents). Another big complaint (for 39%) was the failure to refund Russians who lost savings during market reforms… Mr Putin was re-elected president with more than 76% of the vote, his best ever election performance, but widespread irregula...

It appears that economic protests are taking place in Iran. (See the original article for some important charts.) Labor Strikes and Worker Protests Erupt Across Iran: ‘This is Slavery’ Teachers went on strike in central Iran’s city of Yazd. Steelworkers and hospital staff walked off the job in the southwest city of Ahvaz. Railway employees protested near Tabriz. And a bus drivers union in Tehran battled the private companies that control many city routes. These were among the hundreds of recent outbreaks of labor unrest in Iran, an indication of deepening discord over the nation’s economic troubles. Workers are turning not only against their employers but also Iran’s government, piling pressure on leaders who promised but failed to deliver better times in the two years since economic sanctions were lifted in the nuclear deal… Prices of eggs, meat and bread are rising more than 10% a year, compounding consumer woes. Unemployment is about 12%, and the Iranian rial has fallen sharply ag...

It seems as if protesters find new methods of expression as often as the Iranian government shuts down avenues of protest. Iranians launch banknote protest to get round censorship "Banknotes are our un-censorable messengers," one user wrote, referring to a rumoured plan to permanently block the popular messaging app Telegram, which is by far the most popular digital communication tool in Iran. Slogans included "I am an overthrower". Some of the sayings were originally chanted during mass anti-establishment protests at the turn of the year. In late December, demonstrators took to the streets then to express their dissatisfaction with the social and economic situation in the country. Telegram was believed to have been the main platform people used to obtain and share information about the protests, which took place across Iran from late December 2017 to January 2018. Nearly 8,000 tweets have been posted since 28 April under the hashtag #Onehundredthousand_talking_ba...

Peppa Pig, subversive symbol of the counterculture, in China video site ban The latest subversive symbol in China is a small pink cartoon pig: Peppa Pig to be precise. Peppa Pig and family The wildly popular children’s character was recently scrubbed from Douyin, a video sharing platform in China, which deleted more than 30,000 clips. The hashtag #PeppaPig was also banned, according to the Global Times , a state-run tabloid newspaper. The seemingly innocuous cartoon’s downfall appears to be no fault of its creators. Instead the problem is Peppa’s association with counterculture memes and “society people” – a slang term for lowlifes and gangsters. People who upload videos of Peppa Pig tattoos and merchandise and make Peppa-related jokes “run counter to the mainstream value and are usually poorly educated with no stable job”, the Global Times said. “They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”… Peppa Pig w...

Remember what George Orwell said about history in his book 1984: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” The Communist Party in China is intent on controlling the past. China criminalizes the slander of its ‘heroes and martyrs,’ as it seeks to control history China’s Communist Party has always understood the importance of policing its history. On Friday, it tightened the screws further with a new law banning the slander of “heroes and martyrs” — figures drawn from wartime propaganda said to have given their lives in defense of the Communist Party or the nation. Lei Feng Chinese schoolchildren are taught about the heroic deeds of figures who fought against the Japanese during World War II, or who gave their lives for the Communist Party in the civil war with the Nationalists. Memorials to some of the most famous dot the country. Now, it will be illegal to suggest that those tales might not be wholly factual… (See Fact-Checking a Chines...

What political consequences can you predict from this report? Dire figure shows 42 percent of Iran’s unemployed are university graduates Iran is facing a crisis represented in the high percentage of the unemployment among the universities and institutes graduates at 42 percent of the total unemployment. Dr. Saeed Nemki, Assistant in the Development of Social and Public Affairs [said]… “We are facing this situation, while educating these people had cost a lot. Thus we should think about a basic solution for this dilemma and eliminate the elite from immigrating (abroad),”… [T]he 42 percent of the unemployed, either have bachelor’s degree or even higher, despite allocating major financial resources for their graduation. This is a very important issue in the society. Actually, the society’s expected something different than those graduates. Thus brain drain is one of the worries facing the labor market in the future… Iranian news agencies published reports that mentioned the details of t...

Big government buildings undergo constant repairs and renovations, but sometimes real rebuilding needs doing. ( See a report on the $310 million renovation of Minnesota's state capitol. ) Westminster is rotting from within The Palace of Westminster, with its cinematic Big Ben clock, set beside the River Thames, is a survivor — of epic fire, German bombs, sulfuric smog and bad plumbing. An eccentric masterwork of Victorian genius, its dual chambers for lords and commoners are the living, breathing heart of constitutional monarchy, the home of Parliament, and one of the most photographed buildings in the world. But Westminster is a wreck, its caretakers say. The palace is not falling down. Not at all. Its bones, the superstructure, are solid enough, and carrying on… Rather, Westminster is rotting from the inside, its water and waste pipes sclerotic, its ventilation shafts congested, its neural networks — the communication, electric, fire systems — nearly shot… Westminster service ...