219. DOMESTIC POLITICS (PANEL I)
219.
Panel Title : DOMESTIC POLITICS (PANEL I)
Chair : Mario Esteban
Panel Abstract :
Asia is an entity of great diversity at all levels and Asian domestic politics it is not an exception. Our panel therefore deals with a broad scope of issues. Despite this variety, some common features are shared by the papers presented to this panel. First, the four papers confront mainstream theoretical frameworks in Political Science to the study of Asian Politics, such as political opportunity structure, coalitional politics, populism, and legislative coalitions. Moreover, the four panellists tackle issues of prime importance for understanding the future development of the political system of China, India, and Taiwan.
Participant :
Rakhal Kumar Purkayastha
Paper Title : India's Exprience With Coalitional Politics
Abstract :
Most of the model of coalitional politics developed in the context of western system cannot be applied in case of India, but India's exprience in coalition politics is of vital poltical importance as it is the largest functioning parliamentary democracy in the world. Coalition in India has meant political coopreation in accordance with some prior arrangement which is to the advantages of the parties that is arrived at through a process of compromises. It also implies a balancing act performed by polical leaders and their parties which involves avoiding conflicts with one another, tolerating the tantrums and fancies of leaders of different groups and making parties with diverse idelogies and programmes move in an unified direction. The rise of coalitional politics has been a natural consequences of the decline of hegemony of one single party in a multi-party system witnessed since 1967 and operation of democratic politics in a pluralistic society like ours in which electoral preferences are made on the grounds of caste, community, religion, language etc rather then merit of the candidates or idelogy or programmes of the paries in the election fray. Such a situation of coalitional politics ofcourse was not foreseen by our constitutional framers, hence there are no specific provisions in the constitution on coalitional government. The coalitional politics which has unfolded since independence and more so since 1989 has its pecularities, some of thich can be briefly summarised as: 1. Political parties which have been poles apart ideologically have successfully formed alliances and coalitions. 2. Clashes of political personalities have prevented the formation of coalition despite many resemlances in the policies and programmes of the parties. 3. Coalitional government in India has been successfully formed with the factor of outside support of the parties. 4. Parties drawing its support from the same social base usually donot succeed in forming coalitions inspite of sharing ideological proximity. 5. Parties in coalition are marked by an elevated sense of unity and discipline in the initial phase but diagreement soon follows. 6. Parties in coalition try to cement their ties with declaration of common minimum programme. 7. Efforts are not made for achieving minimum winning number but attempts are made to acheve surplus majority in a coalition. 8. Defeat of a coalitional government in a legislature may not be followed by an alternative government. 9. Most of the coalitional government have not been able to complete their full term in office. The study of working of the coalition politics becomes also important in view of the implication for the future of the Indian polity.
Saiful Akmal
Paper Title : Aceh: A Political Policy Laboratory for Jakarta
Abstract :
Aceh, one of some other popular and familiar names possibly has long been an issue for us. Generally speaking, Aceh is one of the most vital provinces for the Indonesian, especially with regard to the struggle against Dutch Colonialism. That is why; they do not want the most northern part province in Sumatera disappear from Indonesian map. For the historians, Aceh seems to be intensively mentioned in historical literature since they are the one and only region in Indonesia that has never been conquered by The Dutch Occupation, and of course, for The Dutch itself, Aceh War will be noted as the most expensive and the bloodiest war ever in their history which had initiated they defeat in the Second World War in Southeast Asia. In addition, for the human rights campaigners and activists, Aceh could never be forgotten in sense of long and bloody disputes as well as horrible conflict which had tore them over the last few decades. Nonetheless, the worst veracity is the enormous number of civilian died as the clash goes on, instead of the number of victims from the Indonesian Military Forces or Aceh Separatist Movement. This paper aimed to address an analysis and description on how the Indonesian government, since the presidency of Soekarno until the administration of the incumbent Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono accumulatively tends to impose immature political policies in order to find a formula for Aceh which has lead to the rise of negative impacts and reactions from the Acehnese. In particular, SBY is an exception, due to his latest condition. Regardless of his recent gift for the Acehnese, which could be very crucial to relieve the tense situation and generate reconciliation for sustainable peace, it is impossible to judge his failure or success since he considerably started his presidency approximately two years ago. The Helsinki Agreement is still very young and green, and certainly, at this very moment and for the next period of times will experience tribulation and hardship. Hence, anything could perhaps happen at anytime that can endanger the peace building process in Aceh. This inaccuracy, might mainly be occur due to some unpopular policy patterns taken by Jakarta or could also be the accumulation of the previous un-resolved problems and the lack of internal consolidation in the Acehnese society (the local government, the society and the Aceh separatist movement) itself. It would, somehow, make the circumstances becomes extremely multifaceted and unpredictable. At the last part of this paper, I would try to propose and offer some alternative solutions to escort this ongoing peace process. Subsequently the failures in the past could be avoided and would not occur over and over again which lately suppose to keep the Acehnese people's mind in rest and not become the victim of a failure of Jakarta political policy.
Hon Weng Woo
Paper Title : Securitization of Culture in East Asia: A Realist-Constructivist Case Study of
China
Abstract :
This paper seeks to examine the factors and impacts behind the emergence of cultural geopolitics (geoculture) in the East Asian region (Northeast and Southeast Asia) generally and China specifically since the creation of the modern East Asian international system starting from the beginning of the First Opium War (1839-1842) in China. In the discussion of this topic, the paper will be divided into several parts for further analysis. The first part will elaborate on the development of geocultural identity in the international system with a general analysis on the differences between universalist and particularist geocultures and a specific examination of East Asian and China's geocultures. The paper will then examine the convergence between geocultural identity and power in the modern East Asian international system since the First Opium War that led to the increasing securitization of culture and the factors behind its rise using the Realist-Constructivist paradigm. Later, the discussion will focus on the relations between geocultural integration in state-making (territorial integration/governance power) and nation-building (social integration/socialization), and its impacts on comprehensive national power in ensuring the cultural-civilizational survival of a nation. The next part then elaborate on China's past and current attempt at cultural soft-threat balancing in managing the interactions of differing cultural value systems. The final part will study the viability and challenges of cultural soft-threat balancing in containing and preventing sociocultural disintegration and its attending impact on a state's national power.
Cheng-Lung Wang
Paper Title : Political Networks and Legislative Success in Taiwan Legislature
Abstract :
This paper examines the impact of legislative coalitions in Taiwan Legislature (the Legislative Yuan) by analyzing data of bill cosponsorship. We propose a measure of "key player" to evaluate the structure importance of each legislator within a cosponorship or legislative network, and investigate the effects of a legislator' social "connectedness" on the success of her sponsored bills. Our results suggest (1) the probability that a bill may pass the committee stage increases as the sponsor' connectedness raises; (2) bills sponsored by highly connected legislators, on the average, were given higher priorities and were examined by the committee sooner; and (3) the more the number of cosponsors from the majority party the more likely a bill will be passed by the committee. These network effects are robust even when other institutional factors (e.g., sponsor sitting on or chairing the committee, number of cosponsors sitting on the committee, level of bipartisan support, support by party caucus, and seniority of sponsors) are controlled.
Christian Schafferer
Paper Title : Populism and Demagoguery in Postwar Taiwan
Abstract :
The existence of populism as a political ideology can be traced back to the early 1870s. At its early stages, populism was believed to be an ideology capable of solving the various societal problems that existed in the late nineteenth century America. It was, however, soon blurred with primitive and demagogic elements, and finally developed into a political instrument to instigate the masses. Three major issues have occurred in recent years when discussing populism. The first deals with the factors behind the emergence of populist leaders and movements. The vast majority of literature related to this issue specifically looks at the phenomenon of growing right-wing populism in late twentieth century Europe. The second raises the question whether populism poses a threat to democracy, and the third endeavors to distinguish between different types of populism. In this paper, I would like to look at the development, diversification and socio-political role of populism in postwar Taiwan. Furthermore, I would like to draw a comparison between the nature of populism in Taiwan and other democracies. This paper bases on extensive field research in Taiwan and on a profound discourse analysis.
