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Tag Archives: democracy
Journalism in China: Impacting Policy in a Changing Media Landscape (Video Interview with Melissa Chan)
Currently a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and former China correspondent for Al Jazeera, journalist Melissa Chan discusses the changing media landscape in China and the role played by foreign correspondents. Continue reading
Beauty Queens in Post War Japan (Video with Dr. Jan Bardsley)
The study of Japanese beauty queens offers insights into democracy and gender issues in post-war Japan. In the 1905s, Japanese beauty queens were often celebrated as models of democracy. They were confident, willing to travel overseas, and represented the idea of upward social mobility. This captured the imagination of Japanese women and for some, signified a step forward for Japanese women’s rights.
However, women in the beauty contests were constructed as images, only allowed to say certain things and unable to complain. This image of beauty queens belies the true situation of Japanese women in the 1950s who were protesting over a lack of equality. Continue reading
Posted in Japan
Tagged Beauty Queens, democracy, free speech, Post War, women's rights
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Collective Protests in China and India: Unexpected Similarity?
Collective protests against corruption and land grabs are widespread in both China and India. The official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reported that the government spent $110 billion on containing these and related popular protests in 2011, more than the defense budget. Many argue that disruptive protests erupt because there are no effective institutional channels, such as the judiciary, for expressing grievances in China. However, in neighboring India, the world’s biggest democracy where such channels do exist, people similarly express their discontent through disruptive protests. Though not yet systematically counted, disruptions, both violent and non-violent, are an essential characteristic of Indian democracy. Continue reading
Posted in China, India
Tagged comparison, democracy, legitimacy, political regime, protests
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Change in Democratic Mongolia (Video Interview with Dr. Julian Dierkes)
Memo #181 – In this interview, Dr. Julian Dierkes introduces the edited volume “Change in Democratic Mongolia: Social Relations, Health, Mobile Pastoralism, and Mining.” By tracing rapid change in Mongolia in four broad fields of contemporary social relations, the chapters in this volume will elucidate the state of contemporary Mongolia and help us understand Mongolia ten or 20 years from now. Continue reading
Posted in Mongolia
Tagged Behind the Book, democracy, health, mining, pastoralism, social relations, sociology
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Indonesia’s Unconsolidated Democracy: Prelude to 2014
Memo #163 – The “Indonesia Model,” the post-1998 political transformation and institutional reform process during which Indonesia’s primarily Muslim society shed the shackles of authoritarianism, is considered an exemplar for Arab Spring countries transitioning to democracy. But transition marks only the beginning: consolidation occurs when liberal institutions and democratic norms are fully embedded. Continue reading
Posted in Indonesia, Southeast Asia
Tagged democracy, Indonesia model, liberal institutions, liberal values
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Mongolian Election: Bumpy Road, but Heading in the Right Direction
Memo #161 – Elections are milestones in democratic development. With the closing of nominations on June 6, 2012, the campaign for the Mongolian parliamentary election officially opens. Observers seem pessimistic about Asia’s only post-socialist democracy. But the upcoming election promises to be more carefully organized and transparent, and public discussions of corruption will strengthen democracy. Continue reading
Posted in Mongolia
Tagged corruption, democracy, economic development, election, political development, sociology
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Indonesia’s Draft Law Exacerbates Religious and Ethnic Tensions
Memo #141 – Conflicts between religious and ethnic communities in Indonesia last year raised fears that communal violence might again erupt across the archipelago, as it did from 1999 to 2001. Disputes between Muslims and Christians led to the burning of several churches, the bombing of a church in Central Java, and the displacement of 7,000 people in Maluku. Continue reading
Posted in Indonesia
Tagged democracy, ethnic tension, law, religious tension, rule of law
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Indonesian Street Vendors Imagine Democracy (Video Interview with Dr. Sheri L. Gibbings)
Memo #109 – Today, talk of democracy and what constitutes a public good is common in Indonesia among people from all walks of life. In her brief interview, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sheri L. Gibbings discusses a group of street vendors in Yogyakarta City who have taken up the cause of democracy and transparency. Continue reading
The Democracy Card
Memo #102 – The goal of the Xinhai Revolution, for its leaders, was to establish a democratic republic in China. Working out how to celebrate the centenary of the revolution on October 10, 2011 has not been easy. The republican ideal has been achieved, but in most of the Chinese world, democracy has not. Only the Republic of China (ROC, or Taiwan) and Singapore have full democracy. Hong Kong has a free press, rule of law, and limited elections. The Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) has virtually no democracy, despite the many rights and freedoms listed in the constitution. Continue reading
Posted in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan
Tagged democracy, October 10, qing dynasty, Xinhai Revolution
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The Indonesian Model: Learning from a Muslim Majority Democracy
Memo #86 – With the old autocracies of the Middle East falling and new regimes yet to emerge, policy makers are grasping for models that can inform analysis. U.S. President Obama has proposed the ‘Indonesian model.’ The logic is straightforward: Indonesia is a majority Muslim country that has transitioned from a military dominated autocracy to a democracy. Continue reading
Posted in Indonesia, Southeast Asia
Tagged Asian religions, democracy, Islam, law, political science, religion
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