Fred W. Riggs: The Man, His Ideas and Relevance in the Contemporary World

2022 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Krishna Kumar Tummala
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Indian Epic

Fred W. Riggs, whom I called as pitamaha (the great father), as the guru of gurus Bhishma in the Indian epic, Mahabharat was known. Although comparative study is not new (‘ancients’ wrote on that), Riggs made the concept his own, and advocated it very intensely. Here is a brief attempt to run the gamut of his ideas and see how they hold up in today’s world— a world that changed much and comprehensively. This is also an attempt to clear some misconceptions about is contributions as a “comparativist”. Problems may be universal, such as Covid, but the remedies can only be applied contextually and culturally—two concepts Riggs advocated. He was unjustly criticized as an ‘academic imperialist’ when he abhorred dictating to anyone. His was a ‘multicultural’ gift to be used within the ‘glocal’ context. ‘Culture’ and ‘context’ are not to be impediments to development, but essential understanding to reform, adapt and move on. The best lessons I learnt from Riggs are not to be dogmatic but to observe, adapt, protect stable political institutions and, most importantly, learn from past mistakes. In other words, remain a perpetual student.

Nations, Nationalism, National Identity: New Dimensions in Academic Discourse

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
I. Semenenko
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Russian Science ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Nation States

Analyzing discourses on interethnic relations can contribute to a clearer understanding of the focal points of tensions in contemporary political communities sharing a common territory and common political institutions. These discourses represent the complex of problems related to nation-building and are generated both in the public sphere and in academic discussion. As such, they often develop separately one from the other. Assessing the current academic discourse on nations and nationalism, on nation-building and the nation-state, on citizenship, cultural diversity and interethnic conflict can contribute to the formation of the agenda of a politics of identity aimed at building a civic nation. Memory politics deserve special attention in this context, as the interpretation of historic memory has today become a powerful instrument that political elites can use to consolidate the nation and, in different contexts, to politicize ethnicity and deepen cleavages in existing nation-states. The affirmation of a positive civic (national) identity is a reference framework for modern democratic societies, and it is in meeting the challenges of politicizing ethnicity that political priorities and academic interests meet. However, the current domination of politics over academia in this conflict prone sphere contributes to its radicalization and to the formation of negative and exclusive identities that can be manipulated to pursue elitist group interests. Evaluating models of political organization alternative to the ones known today (such as “the nation-state”) does not aspire to “write off” the nation, but this can help to come up with visions and ideas politics can take up to overcome the conflict potential that contemporary societies generate over ethnic issues. Acknowledgements. This article was prepared with financial support provided by the Russian Science Foundation [research grant № 15-18-00021, “Regulating interethnic relations and managing ethnic and social conflicts in the contemporary world: the resource potential of civic identity (a comparative political analysis)”]. The research was conducted at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), RAS.

Explaining imprisonment in Europe

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapio Lappi-Seppälä
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Explanatory Factors

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study that explores the linkages between the use of imprisonment in 30 countries and a range of potentially explanatory factors for variations in this measure of punitivity, including: crime levels; social indicators, such as those measuring investment in welfare programmes and income inequality; trust in other people and trust in political institutions; public fear of crime and public punitivity; and variations in political structure and forms of democracy. The main conclusions are that moderate penal policies have their roots in a consensual and corporatist political culture, in high levels of social trust and political legitimacy, and in a strong welfare state; and that more punitive policies that make more use of imprisonment are to be found in countries where these characteristics are less in evidence.

A Comparative Study of French and British Decolonization

1978 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Smith
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
Open Discussion ◽  
Historical Movement ◽  
Second World ◽  
Comparative Manner

Despite the historical significance of European decolonization after the Second World War, there has been no serious interpretive account of it as an overall process. A number of excellent case studies exist analyzing specific policies or periods in the imperial capitals or in the colonial territories, and there are several chronologically complete surveys of the decline of European rule overseas. These have neither been directed nor followed, however, by studies attempting to conceptualize synthetically the entire period. In default of a wide-ranging debate over the character of decolonization as an historical movement, a kind of conventional wisdom has grown up attributing the differences in the British and French experiences to a combination of their respective imperial traditions and the governing abilities of their domestic political institutions. As yet, there has been no systematic attempt to separate carefully the chief variables to be analyzed, to assign them weights of relative importance, and to coordinate them in an historical and comparative manner. This essay hopes to open discussion of these questions.

Complexity and Rationality in Public Life

1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Dryzek
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Instrumental Rationality ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Communicative Rationality ◽  
Contemporary World

Increasing complexity in the contemporary world calls into question prevailing notions of rationality in public policy and political life. Even in their most refined forms, instrumental-analytic strategies of decision are inherently limited when confronted with complexity. Communicative rationality, rooted in the inter-subjective understanding of competent actors, could cope more effectively with complex social problems. By implication, political institutions grounded in instrumental rationality may be less effective than those providing for reasoned discourse among concerned actors.

Institutions, contexts, and ethnic violence in comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251211989154
Author(s):  
Feng-yu Lee ◽  
Tse-min Lin
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Ethnic Violence ◽  
Proportional Systems ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Majority Group ◽  
Institutional Solution

Which combinations of government structures and electoral systems create better frameworks for addressing ethnic violence? Is there any one-size-fits-all institutional solution to violent ethnic conflict? Why or why not? These questions are of substantial importance to scholars and policymakers alike, but the extant literature does not provide a systematic and thorough exploration. In this article, we argue that the effects of political institutions on ethnic violence are moderated by parameters of ethnic configurations. Through a large comparative study, we find that institutions are relevant when ethnic groups are not geographically dispersed, and whether ethnic minorities face a majority group also matters. For concentrated minorities facing a majority, semi-presidential-proportional and presidential-proportional systems are more effective in reducing violence. In cases involving concentrated minorities facing no majority, parliamentary-non-proportional systems are associated with the most intense violence. We conclude that states seeking to alleviate ethnic violence by institutional engineering must take contexts seriously.

Cries of war: Securitization of fluid transnational identities during war (a comparative study of securitization of Chinese Indians and Japanese Americans)

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110300
Author(s):  
Urmila Narzary
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
The State ◽  
Japanese Americans ◽  
Habeas Corpus ◽  
Transnational Identities ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Securitization Theory ◽  
The Relationship

Fluid transnational identities are an omnipresent reality in the contemporary world, but what happens when war becomes a reality or the threat of war is imminent in a State which contains fluid transnational identities? This article tries to explore these dynamics to determine if the threat from transnational identities is an actual threat during war or an act of an elite few, and what follows after the war, by comparing the experiences of Chinese Indians and Japanese Americans. The study heavily leans on securitization theory to explore the questions posed and elaborate on the situations when habeas corpus was denied thereby incarceration and internment as a practice were justified. The relationship between the transnational population and the State under the Copenhagen School is also further elaborated on.

Comparative Political Systems

2018 ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Daniel C. O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
South China ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
China Sea ◽  
Political Economies

This chapter presents a comparative study of politics and political institutions in Cambodia and the Philippines, which were long at the extremes within ASEAN regarding whether the members should work collectively to negotiate with China over competing South China Sea claims. Noting the similarities in informal political institutions in both states, including high levels of corruption and the dominance of family dynasties of both political economies, the chapter, nevertheless, emphasizes the differences in formal political institutions in the two countries, as well as the oligarchic political competition of elite families in the Philippines, termed “dynastic pluralism” compared to the dominance of Hun Sen’s family through intermarriage in Cambodia. While patron-clientelism is entrenched in both systems, the chapter argues, in the Philippines there are many more patrons. The chapter concludes by suggesting that Cambodia’s even more corrupt environment and less democratic institutions provide relatively wider avenues for Chinese influence over Cambodia’s government.

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