For a paper I'm writing in an Urban Planning seminar, I'm reading up on institutional development. Institutional development is pretty self-explanatory. It's the idea that institutions develop--they evolve, they grow, they change. Different authors have different theories about how institutions tend to develop in certain circumstances, and how institutions should develop.
Phillip Selznick has an idea termed "incubation for maturation." He recommends that nascent institutions must have a period of incubation in the early stages of their existence. They must be free from external pressure that may undermine the institution's values and constituents. This period of "incubation"--which he also calls "isolation"--allows an institution to have the freedom to sort out their ideas. An institution can refine and experiment with its values, so that they may become stronger and more unifying. After "incubation," an institution will have a strong set of values that can unify all its members. When faced with external pressures, the institution will now be able to confront them head on. It can rally around its tested values and its loyal members.
He gives the example of the Bolsheviks, and how their period of "incubation" from 1924 to 1935 allowed them to emerge as a strong--albeit authoritarian--party. As a group with a strong unifying set of values and a committed body of members, the communist party was able to firmly grip its power for decades.
This is of course an ugly example. However, it makes me wonder if a period of incubation could be good for developing countries. Maybe a populist group with democratic ideals should be allowed to rise to power, and then tighten its grip temporarily. Rule in an authoritarian manner and unify its nation under the identity and ideology that it offers.
I realize that this sounds completely awful. Just writing it, I realize how terrible it would be. The goal of incubation to strengthen identity and ideology inevitably necessitates indoctrinating and purging a nation. That's how a ruling party keeps external pressure out, and strengthens its unity; kill off the disunity.
Also, I think incubation may cause creativity to be restricted. Rather than incubation allowing new ideas to be tried out, the same old values are just tweaked and tried out in different ways. Most of the strengthening that incubation enables goes towards disciplining its constituents rather than refining its ideology.
Nonetheless, I recognize the (few) virtues of this idea. Building national unity is a tough thing. National unity often needs a national identity that citizens can unite around. Creating a national identity--of cultures, values (and language?)--is tough. Maybe this is the point/goal of incubation. Incubation allows weak, diverse state to gain cohesion. It doesn't mean cultures must be obliterate--although this is a definite, definite threat. It allows a nation to overcome its sectarian divisions.
If the idea of the nation-state really is to show its merit in the world, maybe this is the only realistic way it can be done. The US had to fought a civil war over its national identity (among other things). Maybe a period of intense incubation eliminates conflicts like this taht will certainly arise in developing states with multiple ethnic and religious groups.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
an unfinished thought
As stressful as it is to think about what I'll do next year when I'm done with school how stressful would it be to be Asif Ali Zardari's kid?
His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistani People's Party (PPP). He was Pakistan's Prime Minister before he was chased from office by a military coup and was later hung. His mother, Benazir Bhutto, also chaired the PPP. She was Pakistan's Prime Minister twice, and neither term had great stability. She was twiced dismissed from her seat of Prime Minister after accusations of corruption led to the regime's dissolvement. She was assassinated in late 2007 by al-Qaeda terrorists.
In light of this recent history, wouldn't it be pretty stressful to be Bilawal Bhutto Zardari? He's studying at Oxford now, but upon graduation it's expected that he'll lead the PPP full time. With Pakistan in the mess it is who would want this job? Pakistan seems torn between the problem of fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in its Northern tribal areas, and now also of easing tensions with India. Throw increasing US military incursions in as a factor, and you're left with a volatile, complex, and potentially dangerous state. Good luck youngn!
His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistani People's Party (PPP). He was Pakistan's Prime Minister before he was chased from office by a military coup and was later hung. His mother, Benazir Bhutto, also chaired the PPP. She was Pakistan's Prime Minister twice, and neither term had great stability. She was twiced dismissed from her seat of Prime Minister after accusations of corruption led to the regime's dissolvement. She was assassinated in late 2007 by al-Qaeda terrorists.
In light of this recent history, wouldn't it be pretty stressful to be Bilawal Bhutto Zardari? He's studying at Oxford now, but upon graduation it's expected that he'll lead the PPP full time. With Pakistan in the mess it is who would want this job? Pakistan seems torn between the problem of fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in its Northern tribal areas, and now also of easing tensions with India. Throw increasing US military incursions in as a factor, and you're left with a volatile, complex, and potentially dangerous state. Good luck youngn!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
zim and congo
zimbabwe and congo in the news
= wow!
will this do anything?
if so, could we send this 'super best friends' team across the globe as disinterested mediators?
after two months of deadlock, i find it remarkable--and a pretty great symbolic act if nothing else--for internationally respected humanitarians to go into such an unstable, impoverished nation. brings pressure and attention.
are they really impartial though? should they be?
are other economic / structural pressures more useful? like South Africa's promise to withhold a $30 million agricultural assistance grant to Zimbabwe until a representative government is in place?
what to work on next: Palestine as the emblem of democratic success in the Mid East
= wow!
will this do anything?
if so, could we send this 'super best friends' team across the globe as disinterested mediators?
after two months of deadlock, i find it remarkable--and a pretty great symbolic act if nothing else--for internationally respected humanitarians to go into such an unstable, impoverished nation. brings pressure and attention.
are they really impartial though? should they be?
are other economic / structural pressures more useful? like South Africa's promise to withhold a $30 million agricultural assistance grant to Zimbabwe until a representative government is in place?
what to work on next: Palestine as the emblem of democratic success in the Mid East
Friday, October 31, 2008
barack obama and my hair
This past wednesday I cut my hair. It'd been nearly eleventh months without a hair cut and my blond locks were falling well below my shoulders. My hair was becoming part of my identity. It was a conversation starter with friends and a point of friendly teasing with others. I'd genially joke about how I was a hippie.
Now it's gone and I miss it. I was reluctant to shear it all off. I'd just planned to clean it up and keep it long, but when I sat in the barber's swivel chair I decided I'd push my limit. Not only is it gone, but it's short. Change is good I figured; it's good to go beyond your comfort zone; it's good to experience something new.
But change is tough. I miss my hair. I miss how an against-the-grain hairstyle differentiated me from others. My hair was not my entire identity, but it made up at least a large part of my superficial identity. I think that people I saw on the street or at work would see my hair and register the thought, "long hair," and immediately frame their interactions and their reading of me on this superficial appearance.
If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, substantial change will come. Neoconservative ideology will be put wayside. More and more foreign policy will be pursued multilaterally, with the aid of our allies, and through international institutions like the UN. The US will begin to realize the importance of foreign legitimacy. We will no longer see legitimacy from our gut, but now from our friends.
At home the state will grow. There will be a great deal of legislative reform and social spending. We've already partially-nationalized parts of the banking industry, and government intervention will continue. We'll tax the rich more, and try to aid homeowners that have been duped by malicious mortgages. We'll establish a healthcare system that treats healthcare as a fundamental human right for all.
I believe that these changes in foreign and domestic policy will be great. Sure, hiccups will occur especially with our economy in recession and the national debt growing. But these changes are new, exciting, and promising.
Nonetheless, change is still scary and change still hurts. Just as I'm grappling with how to act with my new short-haired identity, the US will have to get used to its new identity. If Barack Obama is our president, on top of the substantive change he will bring, he will also bring a fundamental change to American identity. We will have elected a minority to lead a nation that has a reputation for exterminating Native Americans, sicking dogs on blacks seeking equal rights in the 60s, pursuing imperialistic goals throughout the world, and most recently building a wall to keep Mexicans and Central Americans out. Our identity--for ourselves to look at, and for the world to see--will be different. For a nation that has grown used to (and sick of) Bush's neoconservative foreign policy, and the self-legitimizing, go-at-it-your-own frontier mentality with our allies, this will take time to get used to.
Now that I've cut my hair it feels great; I don't have to brush strands out of my eyes every two seconds or wait a half hour for my hair to dry. But I'm still grappling with its newness. This is something that people throughout the United States, as well as people throughout the world, must get used to.
Now it's gone and I miss it. I was reluctant to shear it all off. I'd just planned to clean it up and keep it long, but when I sat in the barber's swivel chair I decided I'd push my limit. Not only is it gone, but it's short. Change is good I figured; it's good to go beyond your comfort zone; it's good to experience something new.
But change is tough. I miss my hair. I miss how an against-the-grain hairstyle differentiated me from others. My hair was not my entire identity, but it made up at least a large part of my superficial identity. I think that people I saw on the street or at work would see my hair and register the thought, "long hair," and immediately frame their interactions and their reading of me on this superficial appearance.
If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, substantial change will come. Neoconservative ideology will be put wayside. More and more foreign policy will be pursued multilaterally, with the aid of our allies, and through international institutions like the UN. The US will begin to realize the importance of foreign legitimacy. We will no longer see legitimacy from our gut, but now from our friends.
At home the state will grow. There will be a great deal of legislative reform and social spending. We've already partially-nationalized parts of the banking industry, and government intervention will continue. We'll tax the rich more, and try to aid homeowners that have been duped by malicious mortgages. We'll establish a healthcare system that treats healthcare as a fundamental human right for all.
I believe that these changes in foreign and domestic policy will be great. Sure, hiccups will occur especially with our economy in recession and the national debt growing. But these changes are new, exciting, and promising.
Nonetheless, change is still scary and change still hurts. Just as I'm grappling with how to act with my new short-haired identity, the US will have to get used to its new identity. If Barack Obama is our president, on top of the substantive change he will bring, he will also bring a fundamental change to American identity. We will have elected a minority to lead a nation that has a reputation for exterminating Native Americans, sicking dogs on blacks seeking equal rights in the 60s, pursuing imperialistic goals throughout the world, and most recently building a wall to keep Mexicans and Central Americans out. Our identity--for ourselves to look at, and for the world to see--will be different. For a nation that has grown used to (and sick of) Bush's neoconservative foreign policy, and the self-legitimizing, go-at-it-your-own frontier mentality with our allies, this will take time to get used to.
Now that I've cut my hair it feels great; I don't have to brush strands out of my eyes every two seconds or wait a half hour for my hair to dry. But I'm still grappling with its newness. This is something that people throughout the United States, as well as people throughout the world, must get used to.
bordering on crazy
from slate.com's article, "High Risk, Limited Payoff":
Eli Lake reports in the New Republic that President Bush signed a decision in July allowing commanders on the ground to decide whether to launch tactical attacks across borders. The attack on Syria and the recent attacks on northwestern Pakistan—all taken without the permission of the Syrian or Pakistani government—are all of a piece.
Eli Lake reports in the New Republic that President Bush signed a decision in July allowing commanders on the ground to decide whether to launch tactical attacks across borders. The attack on Syria and the recent attacks on northwestern Pakistan—all taken without the permission of the Syrian or Pakistani government—are all of a piece.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Krauthammer's logic
Washington post columnist and self-defined democratic realist, Charles Krauthammer formally endorsed John McCain in today's Washington Post.
Not a big suprise, although in a editorial earlier this month he offered some praise of Obama, writing: "he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president." In this article he basically praised Obama's ability to not have any major gaffs in an election that seems to have all things falling in his favor. Like Reagan's 1980 easy election following Carter's unpopular term, Obama just needs to run a stable campaign and remain cool and collected.
In his endorsement of McCain, Krauthammer writes:
"Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb."
In my opinion, Krauthammer seems to carry this cold war mentality; a worldview full of binaries and Realist power balances. Krauthammer sees the world as an unstable place, where the US must act as a stablizing force. Most importantly, the US must continue to protect its own security and its own national interests and the best--and perhaps only--way to do this in his mind is through an strong leader who finds legitimacy from within and uses military deterence and power as the main strategy for security.
I believe this is an outdated mentality. I share Krauthammer's belief that the world is an unstable place. Maybe barbarians aren't at our gates, but he's right in writing that there are many threats to American security and interests. I believe, however, that his--and McCain's--strategy for confronting these threats is doomed to fail. We've seen it in the go-at-it-on-our-own, punish-don't-talk foreign policy of the Bush administration. More often than not, the problem has not been the inability of our leaders to "tell the lion from the lamb"; the problem has been that our leaders turn the lamb into the lion. A foreign policy course that continues to frown on the opinions of our allies and seeks to combat Islamic jihadism and failing states with bombs not diplomats is the wrong course. It is a course that Krauthammer has endorsed despite its utter failure over the past eight years. I believe that Americans have seen the failures of this course and are tired and frustrated with it. It is a course that can gain popularity in high times, but cannot be sustained in times of domestic struggle (specifically economic struggle). For this reason it is an ideology that, at least for now, "will go down with the McCain ship." I say good riddance for now.
Not a big suprise, although in a editorial earlier this month he offered some praise of Obama, writing: "he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president." In this article he basically praised Obama's ability to not have any major gaffs in an election that seems to have all things falling in his favor. Like Reagan's 1980 easy election following Carter's unpopular term, Obama just needs to run a stable campaign and remain cool and collected.
In his endorsement of McCain, Krauthammer writes:
"Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb."
In my opinion, Krauthammer seems to carry this cold war mentality; a worldview full of binaries and Realist power balances. Krauthammer sees the world as an unstable place, where the US must act as a stablizing force. Most importantly, the US must continue to protect its own security and its own national interests and the best--and perhaps only--way to do this in his mind is through an strong leader who finds legitimacy from within and uses military deterence and power as the main strategy for security.
I believe this is an outdated mentality. I share Krauthammer's belief that the world is an unstable place. Maybe barbarians aren't at our gates, but he's right in writing that there are many threats to American security and interests. I believe, however, that his--and McCain's--strategy for confronting these threats is doomed to fail. We've seen it in the go-at-it-on-our-own, punish-don't-talk foreign policy of the Bush administration. More often than not, the problem has not been the inability of our leaders to "tell the lion from the lamb"; the problem has been that our leaders turn the lamb into the lion. A foreign policy course that continues to frown on the opinions of our allies and seeks to combat Islamic jihadism and failing states with bombs not diplomats is the wrong course. It is a course that Krauthammer has endorsed despite its utter failure over the past eight years. I believe that Americans have seen the failures of this course and are tired and frustrated with it. It is a course that can gain popularity in high times, but cannot be sustained in times of domestic struggle (specifically economic struggle). For this reason it is an ideology that, at least for now, "will go down with the McCain ship." I say good riddance for now.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A brooksian endorsement
Correct me if i'm wrong david brooks, but I take this as an endorsement of Obama (granted it has its fair share of psychoanalysis and calm, slightly apathetic objectivity). Awesome
It reads almost like the Washington Post's endorsement
It reads almost like the Washington Post's endorsement
Friday, October 3, 2008
bah
i put myself through the excruciating pain of reading editorials of people i know i vehemently disagree with:
in one, peggy noonan, a speechwriter for ronald reagan, wrote in regards to last nights vp debate:
"More than that, an hour and a half of talking to America will take her to a new level of stardom. Watch her crowds this weekend. She's about to get jumpers, the old political name for people who are so excited to see you they start to jump."
yeah, she gets people excited to jump, but not up and down---just straight off a bridge
in one, peggy noonan, a speechwriter for ronald reagan, wrote in regards to last nights vp debate:
"More than that, an hour and a half of talking to America will take her to a new level of stardom. Watch her crowds this weekend. She's about to get jumpers, the old political name for people who are so excited to see you they start to jump."
yeah, she gets people excited to jump, but not up and down---just straight off a bridge
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