AHS Comparative Government

Two German filmmakers and an American peace worker have been arrested in Nigeria's troubled Delta state; they are being held on suspicion of espionage and terrorism. The German filmmakers, in Nigeria to research a documentary on the ongoing violence in the Niger Delta, apparently filmed several young, masked Ijaw men. Some Ijaw -- an ethnic group native to the Delta -- have resorted to sabotage and violence to try to stop the environmental degradation of the region: although Ijaw farms and villages have been destroyed by the extraction of oil in the Delta, the Ijaw have derived little economic benefit from the sale of the oil. (Most of that benefit has gone to corrupt government officials from other ethnic backgrounds). The American in custody has lived in the Delta for 36 years and is married to a Nigerian; she apparently provided assistance to the filmmakers.

The arrest of the three appears to be a transparent attempt to prevent the creation of a film that might embarrass the Nigerian authorities:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7018198.stm

Please see the posts of January 30, February 10, April 7 and May 10 (2007) for more on the conflict in the Niger Delta.

The front page of this morning's New York Times features a prescient appraisal of the resurgence of the Orthodox faith in contemporary Russia and the growing role of the Orthodox Church in the Russian state:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/world/europe/23russia.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

According to the Asia Development Bank, income inequality is increasing in China; between 1993 and 2004, China's Gini coefficient rose from 0.40 to 0.473. (The Gini coefficient is a widely used measure of a country's equality of income distribution. The lower the coefficient, the more equally income is distributed. A coefficient of 0.0 would reflect perfect equality of income -- everyone in a country earning the same amount; a coefficient of 1.0 would reflect perfect inequality of income -- all of the income of a country going to one person.)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/09/content_6498892.htm

An investigation into the alleged misappropriation of public funds by the Speaker of Nigeria's House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, degenerated into chaos Thursday. While Representatives traded punches, Etteh's security staff hustled her out of the hearing:

http://odili.net/news/source/2007/sep/21/399.html

On Wednesday, Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar who consults for the Open Society Institute, was released from Evin prison in Tehran. Tajbakhsh was arrested last May and charged with espionage and planning a non-violent revolution against Iran's theocratic regime. His release from jail follows Iran's release in August of two Iranian-American women, Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Azima, who were charged with similar crimes. Esfandiari, like Tajbakhsh an academic, and Azima were later allowed to leave Iran. A fourth Iranian-American, Ali Shakeri, remains in custody:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7004148.stm

Shamil Burayev, who ran for president of Chechnya in 2003, has been charged as an accomplice in last October's execution-style murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Politkovskaya was renowned for her coverage of Russia's war in Chechnya, and had exposed atrocities committed by Russian forces and their Chechen allies in the war. Current and former members of Russia's internal security services have also been implicated by prosecutors in the murder:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7007850.stm

Andrei Lugovoi is the chief suspect in last November's polonium-210 poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a London-based critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lugovoi has been charged in Britain with murder; the refusal of the Russian government to extradite Lugovoi to the UK has resulted in a diplomatic row between the two countries.

Lugovoi is now preparing to run in the December elections for the Russian Duma as the number two person on the Liberal Democratic Party's slate -- just behind party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. (The Liberal Democratic Party is neither liberal nor democratic -- it is a far-right, ultra-nationalist party; Zhirinovsky, its colorful leader, is openly racist). If elected, Lugovoi would enjoy immunity from criminal investigation or prosecution in Russia:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=east_europe&sid=aiYl_d8sSGOE

China's "one child policy" is actually quite complex: while people in urban areas are allowed to have only one child, people in rural areas are often allowed to have two children, particularly if the first child is a girl. Some relatively prosperous Chinese couples, moreover, choose to have more than one child (or even more than two children), and simply pay the fine for having additional children:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7002201.stm

On Monday, leftist guerrillas blew up several pipelines belonging to Mexico's state-owned oil and natural gas monopoly, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). The sabotage was the third attack on Pemex pipelines in as many months; the small Popular Revolutionary Army, which claimed credit for the two earlier attacks, was implicated in Monday's incident. While at least 21,000 people were evacuated following Monday's attack, and natural gas service in nine Mexican states and in Mexico City was disrupted, no one was killed in Monday's blasts:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/world/americas/11pipelines.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fMexico&_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the gap between Britain's rich and poor is at its highest level in 40 years. While inequality in family wealth fell during the 1970s, a new "polarization" between rich and poor began in the 1980s and continued throughout the 1990s: the wealthiest fifth of the population derived most of the benefits of the economic restructuring that took place during those years, while the poorest 25% were largely left behind:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6901147.stm

Moreover, Britain's rich and poor are increasingly segregated, with the rich living in affluent suburbs and the poor living in decaying inner-city areas:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6984707.stm

Much of the increased gap between rich and poor may in fact be explained by the clustering of the well-off in expensive suburbs. The price of homes in affluent neighborhoods has shot up in Britain over the past ten years, adding dramatically to the wealth of families already fortunate enough to live in affluent enclaves.

The Hojjat al-Islam Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former President of Iran, has been elected the Speaker of Iran's Assembly of Religious experts; he fills the vacancy left by the death of the former Speaker, the Ayatollah Ali Meshkini. The Assembly of Religious Experts is a powerful body within the Iranian government: it selects the "Leader" -- the most powerful person in the Iranian government. Under the Iranian constitution, the Leader and all members of the popularly-elected Assembly of Religious Experts must be senior members of the Shi'ite clergy.

Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. By the standards of Iranian politics he is a moderate. He supports the Iranian system of government in which all candidates for public office, and all laws adopted by Iran's parliament (the Majles), must be approved by the Leader and by other senior clerics. In the past, Rafsanjani has also supported rapprochement with the West, easing restrictions on the press and on "civil society" groups, relaxation of Iran's strict dress code, and greater participation by Iran in the global market for goods and capital.

Rafsanjani ran for a third (non-consecutive) term as President in 2005; he was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an economic populist and a strong opponent of political and cultural liberalization. In 2006, Rafsanjani achieved a stunning comeback -- clerics loyal to Rafsanjani took control of the Assembly of Religious Experts, soundly defeating clerics allied with President Ahmadinejad.

In addition to serving as the Speaker of the Assembly of Religious Experts, Rafsanjani is the chair of the Expediency Council, another powerful body within the Iranian government. Rafsanjani is frequently mentioned as a possible successor to the current Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, should death or serious illness force Khamenei from office. Few Iranians doubt that Rafsanjani, 73, would like to end his clerical and political careers as Leader of Iran:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6977451.stm

The Economist has published a report evaluating the extent to which the governments of 165 countries and two territories are democratic. The report classifies each of these governments as either a "full democracy," a "flawed democracy," a "hybrid regime" or an "authoritarian regime." The report concludes that more than half of the world's population live in a democracy, but that only 13% live in a "full democracy." Moreover, 40% of the world's population live under authoritarian rule.

What countries does The Economist consider the most democratic? Follow the link below to find out. (Hint: neither the US nor Great Britain makes the top 15). When you're done reading the report summary, click on the link that says "Full report and methodology" and have a look at the report. The report begins by criticising as inadequate both Robert Dahl's criteria of polyarchy and the Freedom House system of classifying governments as "free," "partly free," and "not free." The report then explains how The Economist evaluated each country's level of democracy according to measures that reflect not only Dahl's criteria but such other factors as political culture and level of citizen participation in public affairs. This methodological section is followed by a table in which The Economist ranks the countries of the world, in order, according to how democratic they are; the report ends with a few general conclusions:

http://www.economist.com/markets/rankings/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8908438

Almost 40 people have been killed, and more than 300 injured, in racist attacks so far this year in Russia. The perpetrators of the violence are generally characterized as "skinheads," a term used in Russia to describe young, ultra-right wing militants. Most of their targets have been people from the Caucasus region or from Central Asia; recently, however, the militants have begun to attack gay people, political progressives and anti-fascist youth. Today, the BBC posted a story about the growing violence:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6977086.stm

Several days ago, The Nation posted a fascinating story examining the reasons for the rise in right-wing violence. Some observers (both inside and outside Russia) believe that the violence is being orchestrated for political gain by elements within the security services; others argue that the Putin Administration's not-so-subtle appeals to popular xenophobia have created a climate in which virulent racism, anti-semitism and homophobia can flourish:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070910/zaitchik_ames