Teaching Comparative Government

What has the government in Iran done to deal with protest and dissatisfaction there? Iran Is Changing, but Not in Ways Trump Thinks President Trump says his decision to leave the nuclear agreement is already having a huge impact on Iran. He is right, Iranians say, but for the wrong reasons… [A]nalysts say there has been little or no change in Iran’s regional posture. The real impact to date has been on internal politics, with a repression on the slightest hints of dissent, and the economy, after the reimposition of sanctions. “A good economic and political process was underway in Iran,” said Mirzababa Motaharinezhad, a spokesman for Mardomsalary, a moderate political group. “Unfortunately, after Trump pulled out from the deal openness ended here and a crackdown on activists resumed.”… [I]n the small alleyways of Tehran’s bazaars and the luxury car dealerships in the affluent northern parts of the city, Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement has definitely added to economi...

This is a great article that identifies cleavages and causes of conflict. Where are the conflicts happening? What are the causes? What factors limiting the government? Nigeria’s Farmers and Herders Fight a Deadly Battle for Scarce Resources Clashes between armed herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria are escalating to increasingly violent episodes as a battle for scarce resources stirs long-held tensions over religion and ethnicity… On Friday and Saturday night dozens of suspected armed herders, who are Muslim and of the Fulani ethnicity, descended from surrounding hills into several villages, opening fire, burning homes and shooting to death some people, most of them Christian and of the Berom ethnicity, as they slept. The killings immediately triggered reprisals as young people from the villages set up road blocks and killed anyone suspected of being Muslim and Fulani. One police commissioner in the area said at least five people died at checkpoints. Conflict between herders and farmers ov...

Maybe it's about the power of judges. This is an opinion piece. Look for confirmation or contradictions to these ideas. Opinion: The Tragedy That Changed Mexico Forever The disappearance of 43 college students on the night of Sept. 26, 2014, in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero marked a turning point for President Enrique Peña Nieto. When he won the presidency in 2012, Mr. Peña Nieto was hailed as a modern reformer promising a more democratic and transparent government. But the disappearance of the students from the Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in the small city of Iguala shocked Mexico and the world, and plunged the Peña Nieto government into an ever-deepening murk of corruption and cover-ups… A ruling by a federal court on June 4 against the attorney general’s office may mark a new era of independence for Mexico’s justice system. In a unanimous 712-page opinion, the judges concluded that the government’s investigation into the attack on the students was faulty and irregula...

Nigeria has a budget (appropriations bill) for the current year. Buhari signs 2018 budget President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2018 appropriation bill containing the year’s federal spending details as approved by the National Assembly… Buhari signs the budget The total budget is N9.1 trillion, up from the N8.6 trillion estimates he submitted to the Assembly on November 7, 2017. The two chambers of the National Assembly passed the budget on May 16, six months after it was presented by the president… 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 concise guide to concepts, terminology, and examples that will appear on May's exam. Just The Facts! is available. Order HERE . Amazon's customers gave this book a 5-star rating.

Have you heard about "free votes?" Labour has decided to give MPs a free vote on a proposed new runway at London's Heathrow airport. And "Tory MPs will be whipped to vote in favour of the new runway…" What does that mean? Labour giving MPs free vote on Heathrow runway plan Labour will not ask its MPs to vote against Heathrow expansion even though its leadership is opposed to a new runway, a senior figure has confirmed. The party is giving its MPs a free vote when the issue is decided on Monday, meaning shadow ministers will not be disciplined for supporting the move. Its transport spokesman Andy McDonald said the runway did not meet Labour's economic and environmental tests. But he said MPs had "strong" personal views and Labour had to be "pragmatic". Scores of Labour MPs are expected to back the government when Parliament votes on whether to give the go ahead for detailed planning on a third runway at the UK's largest airport. With t...

It was only 16 years ago that Francis Fukuyama wrote The End of History and the Last Man , a best selling book that celebrated the "victory" of democracy. Things look different in this part of the 21st century. What accounts for the changes? After decades of triumph, democracy is losing ground The world has grown far more democratic since the second world war. In 1941 there were only a dozen democracies; by 2000 only eight states had never held a serious election. But since the financial crisis of 2007-08, democracy has regressed. Most watchdogs concur. The latest survey by Freedom House, an American think-tank, is called “Democracy in Crisis”. In 2017, for the 12th consecutive year, countries that suffered democratic setbacks outnumbered those that registered gains… According to the Democracy Index from The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, 89 countries regressed in 2017; only 27 improved… What these indices measure is not simply democracy (ie...

When public protests become visible to outsiders, I'd assume that we're just seeing the surface of the situation. Chinese truck drivers, activists warn of more protests over fuel, fines and cutthroat rates Thousands of truck drivers are believed to have taken part in protests in a dozen places – including Shanghai and Chongqing… Footage and photos posted online showed drivers honking horns, driving slowly, chanting slogans and holding up banners. As well as complaining about high fuel costs and random traffic fines, the drivers were protesting over changes to an Uber-like online truck logistics platform that pairs owner-drivers with freight shippers. Long-distance truck drivers have protested before but the action this time is significant for breaking through the heavy censorship of China’s media to show the impact of internet companies on Chinese workers… “We are struggling just to survive,” one driver based in Yantai, Shandong province, said, refusing to rule out similar a...