AHS Comparative Government

The British Government appears likely to increase the powers of the devolved government of Wales.  Under proposals being circulated in Westminster, the Welsh Government would gain the power to tax and the power to borrow money.  The members of the Welsh Assembly, however, seem curiously unenthusiastic about the contemplated expansion of their authority:

http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21567075

The death of a Tehran blogger in police custody has resulted in renewed allegations that suspected dissidents are subjected to torture in Iran:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enjoys a monopoly on political power in China.  Internally, the CCP is a self-perpetuating oligarchy: the party's new leaders were chosen by its outgoing and former leaders in lengthy behind-the-scenes negotiations.  Indeed, one of the most common justifications that CCP officials give for the party's continued governance of China is that the CCP's leadership selection process produces far more competent leaders, and far more effective and coherent government policy, than the messy elections that typify Western democracy.

Recent academic research, and the biographies of the seven men elevated or returned to the Standing Committee of the CCP's Political Bureau (Politburo) at this week's Party Congress, cast doubt on this argument.  Bold and effective leadership is not rewarded by advancement in the CCP.  Instead, promotion within the CCP depends on family connections, and on being a member of the right patronage network within the party:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/world/asia/family-ties-and-hobnobbing-are-keys-to-power-in-china.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=world

In a significant victory for outgoing President Felipe Calderón, the Mexican Senate this week approved a bill significantly liberalizing the country's labor laws.  The bill, which was previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies, is now before President Calderón; he is certain to sign it into law.

Under the new law, employers in the formal sector will be able to hire workers on a part-time basis (though all workers must be paid a daily minimum wage of about $5) and to outsource jobs to smaller businesses that pay lower wages and provide fewer benefits.  Mexican employers will also enjoy more flexibility in hiring workers.  Until now, most Mexican workers in the formal sector, once hired, could be fired only with difficulty: the new law allows Mexican employers to hire workers on a probationary basis and on temporary "training" contracts.

The law was adopted with support from President Calderón's conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) and from incoming President Enrique Peña Nieto's Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).  At the insistence of PRI Deputies, provisions in the law that would have democratized Mexico's unions (requiring unions, for example, to hold secret ballot elections for leadership positions and elections to approve contracts) were removed from the bill during its consideration in the Chamber of Deputies; Mexico's powerful and unaccountable union leaders have long been key players in the PRI's electoral machinery.  Mexico's progressive Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) opposed the bill both because it removed what PRD members view as essential worker protections and because it had been stripped of its union democracy provisions:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-11-13/mexico-passes-labor-reform-no-democracy-clauses

The Economist has weighed in with its analysis of this week's leadership change in Beijing:

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21566685-china-shuffles-its-leadership-putting-princeling-command-changing-guard

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced the composition of the Standing Committee of the CCP's Political Bureau (Politburo).  The Politburo Standing Committee, now reduced to seven members, makes the most important political decisions in China.

As expected, Xi Jinping has been named CCP General Secretary, and will lead the Standing Committee.  Xi has also been appointed Chairman of the CCP's Central Military Commission, making him the commander-in-chief of China's armed forces.  (Xi's predecessor as CCP General Secretary, Hu Jintao, had to wait nearly two years after becoming CCP General Secretary to take over as Chairman of the Central Military Commission).  Xi is expected to be elected President of the People's Republic of China when the country's National People's Congress meets in March.  Xi, a "princeling" (the son of an important CCP leader), is widely seen as an ally of former CCP General Secretary (and former Chinese President) Jiang Zemin.

The second most powerful person in the new Standing Committee is, as expected, Li Keqiang.  Li is the only political ally of retiring CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao to be named to the Standing Committee.  Li is expected to take over as Prime Minister of China (and, therefore, as head of Chinese government operations) in March:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20322288

The BBC has posted brief profiles of the seven men now ultimately responsible for governing China.  At least four of the Standing Committee members (including Xi) are "princelings."  It also appears that the CCP's Propaganda Chief (who will become responsible for maintaining China's pervasive media censorship) will become one of the seven most powerful men in the country; the CCP's leading foreign policy experts did not make the cut:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20321603

On 6 November, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired his Defense Minister, Anatoly Serdyukov.  An article in this week's issue of The Economist examines the reasons for Serdyukov's dismissal and analyzes the probable effect of that dismissal on the continuing modernization of the Russian military:

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21566006-firing-russias-defence-minister-may-be-setback-military-reform-reform-and-be-sacked

A bill that would liberalize Mexico's labor laws (i.e., eliminate arguably archaic rules originally intended to protect workers) is making its way through the Mexican Congress with support from both the conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) and the centrist Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).  The bill may yet stall, however, over provisions aimed at combating corruption in Mexico's powerful unions; while these reforms are supported by the PAN and by the left-wing Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), they are bitterly opposed by the PRI; Mexico's unions have long been PRI clients, and form an essential part of the party's electoral machinery. 

The Economist argues that the ongoing controversy over the bill foreshadows the problems that will confront Enrique Peña Nieto when he becomes president of Mexico next month. Peña Nieto plans an ambitious program of reform that includes permitting foreign oil companies to participate with PEMEX (Mexico's state-owned oil company) in developing deep water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico.  He will need support from PAN Deputies and Senators for his agenda; Peña Nieto's PRI will not have a majority in either house of Mexico's Congress:

http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21565607-travails-bill-modernise-labour-markets-and-unions-highlight-difficulties-facing

In China, 160 million people have moved from rural areas to the country's booming cities in the past twenty years. As many as 100 million more people may move from the countryside to China's cities in the next decade.  However, under China's hukou (household registration) system, moving from the countryside to a Chinese city (or from one Chinese city to another) without official permission is illegal. In most Chinese cities, illegal migrant families do not enjoy the same same housing services, or the same educational services for their children, as legal residents. While some Chinese cities are beginning to offer housing and educational services to migrant families, other legally-established disincentives to migration persist. For example, high school students must take university entrance exams in their parents' legal place of residence. Moreover, the syllabus covered in university entrance exams varies from place to place in China. This means that students from migrant families who wish to compete for spots in Chinese universities must spend their high school years in their parents' home villages:

http://www.economist.com/news/china/21565650-residents-clash-over-plans-let-children-migrants-sit-exams-capital-fighting