Showing papers on "State (polity) published in 2022"

Building a Multiethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: This dissertation explores ideas of the state, the military, and identity. It demonstrates the complex relationship between these concepts by charting the evolution of three armies which were established to fight the Bosnian War from their inception in 1991 until their formal unification in 2006. This process is illustrated through the analysis of a wide range of sources, including interviews, speeches, military journals, government documents and legislation, memoirs, newspaper articles, and trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The author’s perspective is informed by his experience living, researching, and working in Sarajevo for over two years, in which time he also travelled throughout every former Yugoslav republic and learned the local language. Nestled in the heart of the Dinaric Alps, Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to three constituent peoples (Bosnian Croats, Muslims, and Serbs) which, until the period of study, lived in mixed communities scattered across its mountains and valleys. Heritage from a particular constituent people did not necessarily inform political outlooks, and for much of the population regional or ideological loyalties took precedent. This dissertation first examines how the Yugoslavs attempted to build a cohesive military from this range of identities during the socialist period. It then explores how rival nationalist leaders raised armies and attempted to build states on Bosnian territory following the collapse of Yugoslavia, offering new perspectives and fresh analysis of the Bosnian War. The focus of this research, however, is on the process of defence reform and military integration which followed the conflict. Just ten years after the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the war, the three armies which had fought it were unified by the Bosnian parliament. Such a development represents a rare moment of political consensus in post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is considered to be the greatest step in establishing peace since the end of the war. This dissertation illustrates how this step was taken. The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina offers us many insights. It reminds us that the boundaries and salience of identity are fluid, and that states are fragile constructs that are difficult to build and maintain. It illustrates the difficulties of building a cohesive military from a diverse population, and offers a lens to analyse various attempts to overcome them. Furthermore, it demonstrates that military integration can serve as the vanguard of institutional reconciliation in post-conflict states and a unified army can serve as a symbol of cooperation in a divided society.

Government responsiveness to voters’ economic vulnerabilities: evidence from 17 European democracies

Abstract: Do governments represent the material needs and preferences of their voters? This is one of the central questions of political science with great consequences for how we should evaluate the state o...

State Sovereignty and the Legitimacy of Aggression

Abstract: The formerly uncontested acceptance of sovereign States’ right to wage war has been legally reduced to the right of self-defence against military aggression. The recently adopted definition of the crime of aggression paved the way for criminal proceedings against military aggressions by States before the International Criminal Court. This further taming of state sovereignty in traditional (‘Westphalian’) terms is a consequence of the dynamic process of globalization. Globalization has restricted many traditional functions of the modern State. However, this does not mean that organized violence and war are currently on the decline. On the contrary, in parallel with the de-legitimizing of organized violence and war by States, their re-legitimation in the post East-West conflict era has also proceeded apace. Two main reasons for this are growing pressure by internationally linked terrorist groups, and the emergence of new destructive technologies.

Legal Pluralism in Afghanistan

Abstract: This chapter focuses on the concept of legal pluralism in Afghanistan. The chapter talks about the main players on the ground, that is, Islamic law, customary law, and state law (Qānūn). It reveals that legal pluralism is the main characteristic of Islamic law because Islamic law provisions have been made from more than ten sources. Furthermore, this chapter explains the concept of customary law in Afghanistan and its deep root in the unique social structure of Afghan society. In addition, it elucidates the history of the adoption of state laws in recent centuries and how it has developed up to date. This chapter also gives details regarding legal education in Afghanistan and provides the answer to the question of who becomes a judge in Afghanistan.

Narrative Building in State Education Intervention: Framing the Takeover Attempt of Houston Independent School District:

Abstract: This case study uses the approach by the Texas government to attempt a state takeover of Houston Independent School District (HISD) to examine the impact of framing on awareness and acceptance of e...

Women, War and Political Violence

Abstract: Female participation in political violence is considered a deviance of the norm in most societies. Nevertheless, women have been actively involved in many violent conflicts worldwide, often in combat roles in non-state armed organisations. Why do women become involved in non-state political violence? What are the reasons for non-state armed political groups to decide to involve women in combat roles? In this chapter—the Introduction—Jennifer Philippa Eggert outlines the state of the art of literature on female fighters in non-state armed organisations, highlights the methodological approach of this study and briefly describes its findings. This is followed by a brief discussion of the causes of the civil war in Lebanon, its different phases and the various actors involved.

How Far Is It from Münster and Osnabrück to Kampala? State Aggression, the Use of Force, and Statehood from a World Society Perspective

Abstract: This chapter first reconstructs ongoing debates about the crime of state aggression as expressions of a seemingly never-ending exchange between the ideal types of power and law in international politics. Section 4.2 places these ideal types into the context of a historical-sociological perspective on systems of politics and law in world society. The aim is to provide a reading in terms of function and social evolution rather than in terms of normative argument. Thirdly, and against the background of this reading, a cautiously optimistic assessment of the developments around the crime of state aggression is advanced. Such an assessment is only possible, however, if world politics is viewed through a specific frame; as a realm characterized by the simultaneous presence of different forms of organizing political authority beyond the territorial State.

Diverse Families: A Challenge to Family Law? A Comparative Exercise

Abstract: This report is based on 14 country reports namely Iraq, Pakistan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Africa, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Greece, and Turkey. It aims at detecting the ways in which claims relating to cultural traditions, ethnic customs, religious convictions, and sexual orientation—or any other kinds of claims that are not officially accommodated in state law—are raised and dealt with in those jurisdictions. The comparison first sets family law in its historical and demographic context, including the implications of mobility and migration as well as of technological and social developments. Secondly it analyzes the actions and reactions of the entities involved, namely the legislature and the judiciary, but also civil society actors. Furthermore, it explores the reactions of the communities concerned and, finally, draws conclusions on some of the challenges that multiculturalism poses to family law today.

Political Considerations in a Liberal Pluralist State

Abstract: Writers have devoted too little attention to the question of the appropriate limits of the state. There seems to be a tacit assumption that wise, well-meaning statesmen will translate philosophers’ insights into good policy. I suggest that it is more likely to find that government leaders in large nations are narcissistic, power-obsessed, and corrupt. The necessity for protecting children’s needs must balanced against the need to maintain the integrity of private spaces against the sorts of governments that are likely to wield authority. I propose seven principles that undergird this balance, and that will be reified in the State Intervention Test in the next chapter. These principles are family primacy, pluralism, political realism, negotiation, limitation of government scope, diffusion of government power, and sufficientarianism. Essentially, I seek a political process with constitutional guarantees of liberty. My vision derives from a contemporary movement in political theory known as political realism. Needs must ultimately be determined politically, and are reified through a political process as guarantees of minimum fulfillment of important interests. The idea that the state should provide such a floor is called sufficientarianism. The levels of sufficiency are established through a modus vivendi. There is no non-controversial principled justification, so I use sentiment to justify my political realist solution. First, it is based on compassion, and possibly solidarity. Second, it encompasses the notion of self-insurance; any of us may fall below a sufficient level without the state providing a floor. Finally, the existence of a social net promotes the legitimacy of societal institutions, including the state, thus promoting social harmony and order.

The Future of Digital Human Rights

Abstract: The final chapter of the book discusses the implications of the book’s findings for social science. Several future concerns emerge. For the European Union to continue supranational data management and technology governance, it must address feelings of democratic deficit among EU citizens. Second, as many EU states continue to suffer from terror attacks, state authorities increasingly rely upon data surveillance to forego risk, threatening the provision of digital human rights. Furthermore, exogeneous shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic have caused governments to utilize personal data monitoring to manage public health, again crossing boundaries set by data protection legislation. Though the EU has shown itself willing to hold third parties responsible for protecting EU citizens’ data, states like China and the US, and data brokers, are increasingly pushing back against the EU view of digital human rights. As with all human rights, digital human rights are fragile.

Free from Numbers? The Politics of Qualitative Sociology in the U.S. Since 1945

Abstract: In a world that is said to be more and more filled with quantities, this paper focuses on the practices and reasons of people refusing quantities; people who want to purify their world from numbers. It uses the history of qualitative sociology as an example and shows how actors refused the quantitative for political or ethical reasons. But they opposed only a certain set of qualitative methods—especially the statistical survey—, which they associated with certain political “demons” (the State, the Army, Bureaucracy), but not the quantitative in general. On the contrary, even qualitative sociologists who opposed surveys did make room for other ways of using numbers, which are very different, often very original and surprising (including social studies of data, data gleanings, conceptual canvasing).

Structural Political and Legal Approaches in Opposition to Populist Governance

Abstract: “Structural political and legal approaches in opposition to populist governance”, could be verified in the theoretical and practical studies presented, to identify some guidelines to contain the populist movement and that can lead to reflection for a more integrated and cooperative process in a liberal democracy in crisis. Despite offering indications for the emancipation of the constitutional subject and politics, it is necessary to accommodate the propositions taking into account the specific characteristics of each state, cultural and political contexts, historical traditions, ethnicities, religion, the type of constitutionalism employed, legal training, to existing institutions, marginalized groups, in short, their characteristics as a nation.