Electoral Intrigues – Page 3 – The Scholar's Stage

Signal Like Its 1711: James Addison on Partisan Signaling, 18th Century Style

30 May, 2015By The People, Electoral Intrigues, Europa Regina, History, Narrative

Portrait of Joseph Addison (1672-1719), by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1712 Image source: Wikimedia I sometimes complain that 21st century American political culture has been hijacked by hyper-partisan signaling. It is easy to forget that this is not a new complaint. You can find political signaling spirals rearing their ugly head many times in humanity’s past–at […]

2 Comments

Bargaining with the Dragon: Some Straight Talk on Hong Kong

06 October, 2014Bargaining and Balancing, Demographics, Electoral Intrigues, The Middle Kingdom, Tyranny

Note by the author: I cannot take credit for most of the ideas and observations I present below. The protests in Hong Kong are now in their eighth day. Since they began last week a great amount has been written about why these protests are happening and what their eventual outcome may be. It has […]

3 Comments

There Will Be No Cambodian “Spring”

05 August, 2014Demographics, Electoral Intrigues, Geopolitics, Narrative, Southeast Asia

. Last week Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) brokered a deal that ended the CNRP’s year-long parliamentary boycott. The CNRP disputed the results of last summer’s election (which they lost) and refused to take the 55 seats they won until an ‘independent’ election committee could audit […]

2 Comments

Understanding Dysfunctional Democracies

04 May, 2014By The People, Electoral Intrigues, Narrative, Southeast Asia

.. Over the last few days a fractious discussion about contemporary Thai politics has arisen over at Zenpundit, the premier space on this side of the blogosphere for discussions of strategic theory, history, political ideology, and the intersections between them. Yesterday Lynn Rees, a superb essayist who posts regularly at the site, entered the discussion […]

3 Comments

Far Right and Far Left – Two Peas in a Pod?

10 April, 2013By The People, Community, Complex Systems, Electoral Intrigues, Monied Interests, Oligarchy, Political Theory

Infographic from Ty Morteson. Image Source.One might add “Governments consistently bails out corporate interests with tax-payer money” to the center of the diagram. Several months ago I published a post that describes how the extreme partisanship emanating from Washington is a really just a surface veneer that covers a plutocratic consensus lying beneath. [1] Ashwin Parameswaran, blogging […]

4 Comments

Turkey As Seen on September 12th

13 September, 2010Bargaining and Balancing, Electoral Intrigues, Entangling Alliances, Near East

Consider: On May 31st a flotilla of ships organized by the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief tried to run the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip. As expected, the Israelis used military force to stop the flotilla from ever reaching the shore. Nine Turks died before the day was over. […]

1 Comment

The Many Sided Turk

07 July, 2010Bargaining and Balancing, Electoral Intrigues, Near East

Unless my readers have spent the greater part of the last five weeks inside a subterranean cavern they have doubtlessly heard and seen much concerning the ‘freedom flotilla’ that attempted to break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the (botched) Israeli commando raid dispatched to stop them. Proving our collective inability to place world […]

3 Comments

Iraqi Election Results Are In

28 March, 2010Electoral Intrigues, Iraq

(Photograph: Stringer/Reuters) Long War Journal has published an excellent graphic breakdown of the results and an astute analysis of what they mean.

0 Comments

Notes From All Over 9/10/2009

08 October, 2009Africa, Arabia, Bactria, Climate, Electoral Intrigues, Energy, Entangling Alliances, Epidemiology, Notes From All Over, Stealth Conflicts, The Middle Kingdom

TOP BILLING: Beijing’s Secret Succession Battle Willy Lam. Wall Street Journal. 24 September 2009. The Hakka People, China’s Leadership Caste “Curzon” ComingAnarchy.com 3 October 2009. Few people possess as much power as the ruling elites of the Chinese Communist Party. For American statesmen and diplomats, few topics have as much importance as the internal divisions […]

0 Comments

Change of the Guard

30 August, 2009Electoral Intrigues, Japan

Japan has a new ruling party. In a landmark election the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) gained a majority in both houses of the Diet for the first time in its history. Yet the significance of this election has much less to do with the DPJ and much more to do those whom they knocked […]

0 Comments

Category Archives: Electoral Intrigues

Signal Like Its 1711: James Addison on Partisan Signaling, 18th Century Style

Bargaining with the Dragon: Some Straight Talk on Hong Kong

There Will Be No Cambodian “Spring”

Understanding Dysfunctional Democracies

Far Right and Far Left – Two Peas in a Pod?

Turkey As Seen on September 12th

The Many Sided Turk

Iraqi Election Results Are In

Notes From All Over 9/10/2009

Change of the Guard

Archives