54,832 research outputs found
The dictatorâs dilemma: the role of social media in revolutions
This paper develops a revolution model incorporating the effects of social media. It is seen that social media changes the outcomes of traditional revolution models due its effects on the cost/benefit analysis of would-be participants. The paper also considers various strategies for the dictator to stop the revolution in light of social media. Finally, the paper offers extensions and different ways to evaluate the effectiveness of social media in a revolution.â˘Introduction: So, you want to be a dictator? These days, it is tougher to lead an authoritarian regime in the face of democratic ideals, free speech and globalized media. Look to the Arab Spring, the inspiration for this paper, as an example of dictators overthrown by these modern forces. Rebels mobilized in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya against longstanding dictators to achieve a self-determined life. This paper hopes to find ways to help you, the would-be dictator, stay in power. In order to do this, the paper will explore and model the factors that encourage the overthrow of a dictator and hence inform how the dictator can rebuff any rebellions before they start.All revolutions differ; perhaps, however, modern and future revolutions have fundamentally changed due to the internet and social media. The greatest problem for would-be revolutionaries is organization. Social media helps overcome collective action problems by dissemination of information to organize people. Facebook and Twitter brought people to Tahrir Square in Egypt to protest Hosni Mubarek because they were inspired by posted messages and videos. Wael Gholim created a Facebook page âWe Are All Khaled Saeedâ that created an online arena for people to share their discontent. When the page called for protests on January 25th, hundreds of thousands mobilized.Social media has also changed the effectiveness of the dictatorâs methods to quell a revolution. In the past, a dictator could kill a dissident to silence him while only angering a few close relatives and friends. Today, as in the case of Khaled Saeed, the deceased can become a rallying cry for thousands and his message quickly spread. The dictatorâs action, while silencing one, angers thousands. Since the revolutionariesâ tactics have changed, perhaps the dictators need to as well. In some Asian countries, authoritarian regimes restrict internet access such as Chinaâs âgreat firewallâ. Pakistan has decided to build its own web wall to partially block users from certain websites while North Korea effectively does not have internet. Restricting the internet involves a trade-off between the internetâs efficiency gains and the possibility of social unrest.Of course, there is always the good old-fashioned bribe. The problem is enforcing the bribe. Hopefully, the bribe is not taken and then used against the dictator. Instead of a cash bribe, the dictator could employ or create governmental positions for his opposition. This co-option of leading revolutionaries may help kill a revolution before it starts. Perhaps the best method of keeping a revolution at bay is to make the people happier by governing better.The dictator has many choices to stop a revolution; some more effective than others. In order to examine the dictatorâs choices, a revolution model needs to be constructed
Discursive and Processual Socialization of the Mass into Acts of Violence: the Case of Rwandan Genocide
This article analyses discursive and processual socialization of the masses into acts of violence during the Rwandan genocide of 1 994. The discursive aspects of the socialization include discourses of dehumanization, ethnic extremism and the dynamics of public socialization into violence and other acts of savagery. The processual dimension of the socialization refers to the violentization process. The article tries to show that the discursive and the processual aspects of socialization reinforced each other. It analyses the ideological and linguistic mechanisms mobilized in Rwanda to foment hatred and whip the masses into atrocities. The article, in addition, tries to explain the genocide through diverse social psychological theories and illustrate the interaction between the leaders\u27 political agitation of the masses towards extermination and the perpetrators\u27 action on the ground. The article argues that no single theory can fully explain the incomprehensible genocide since it was the result of a complex intermarriage between social, ideological and moral forces. It also examines the role of cultural and linguistic resources in the violentization process. On the basis of the analysis, the article recommends what should be done to prevent similar atrocities in Africa
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Transnational NGOs between Popular Uprising and Authoritarian Regime: Developments in Egypt
Scholars differentiate the concepts of internationalism and transnationalism. While the first refers to the connectivity between macro institutions such as states, multinational corporations and other institutionalized actors within and beyond national boundaries, the second term emphasizes public movements, organizations and communities engaged in de-territorialized socioâcultural, political and economic activities. This paper focuses on the role of transnational NGOs (TNGOs) in recent developments in Egypt. The current scholarly debate on the soâcalled âArab springâ considers the mobilization of disempowered youth, intense media-tech application and sustained international pressure as crucial to ousting authoritarian regimes in North Africa. Delineating the role of TNGOs complements such findings. TNGO activities and responses to the Egyptian uprising in 2011 and to the ensuing coup in 2013 reveal the capability of such organizations to balance civic transformational oriented mobilizations with state centred institutional considerations. Furthermore though TNGOs cannot directly change the current political stalemate in Egypt, the power elite might misinterpret the changing and sometimes contradictory positions of these organizations and might eventually encourage the return to authoritarianism. After introductory remarks on the background of the uprising, the paper proceeds to theoretical discussion of transnational engagement followed by recent historical and current empirical developments
We the People: Each and Every One
In his book series, We the People, Bruce Ackerman offers a rich description of how constitutional law comes to be changed by social movements. He also makes some normative claims about âpopular sovereignty,â âpopular consent,â âhigher law,â and âhigher-lawmaking.â In this essay, I examine these claims and find them to be both highly under-theorized and deeply problematic. Ackermanâs own presentation of what he considers to be an informal process of constitutional amendment illustrates the importance of formality in protecting the rights retained by the people. And he assumes a collective conception of popular sovereignty without considering the serious normative problems raised by majority and supermajority rule. Rule by a majority or supermajority is not the answer to the problem of constitutional legitimacy; it is the problem that requires a normative solution. As an alternative to collective or majoritarian conceptions of popular sovereignty, I identify an individualist conception that yields fundamentally different conclusions about the purpose of a written constitution, including the importance of written amendments in safeguarding the rights retained by a sovereign people, each and every one. Finally, in a Postscript I respond to Professor Ackermanâs reply to this essay
The Green Investment Report: The Ways and Means to Unlock Private Finance for Green Growth
This report is a first step by the Green Growth Action Alliance to deliver on the G20 Leaders' request. It aims to provide a common point of reference to guide policy-makers, financial institutions and investors as they seek to better understand, and address, the global gap in green investment. This report documents and synthesizes the best available green investment data, research and case studies from a number of leading organizations, including Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the Climate Policy Initiative, the International Energy Agency, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank Group and the World Resources Institute, and provides important messages for different groups of stakeholders. New analysis is also presented on clean-energy asset finance flows, the findings of which can be used to guide investment decisions and priorities in other sectors
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