Category: politics
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The Personal in the Political
The following title from a NYT story turned my mind to a topic that political scientists tend to ignore. Turning Bush-Abe Alliance Into Friendship The story also uses the ubiquitous statement by Bush on Putin: “I looked the man in the eye,” Mr. Bush said then, adding, “I was able to get a sense of…
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Opaque Transparency Decision
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed a regulation to improve government transparency on Tuesday. Various headlines about the move: Government-controlled China Daily:Statute to make government open, cleanWashington Post, 2007.04.24:China Announces Rules to Require Government DisclosuresNew York Times, 2007.04.25:China Sets Out to Cut Secrecy, but Laws Leave Big Loopholes This crux of the matter comes out at…
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Historical Urban Bias
I think that it is a generally accepted fact that the CCP instituted policies with a distinct urban bias throughout its rule; however, that does not lessen the joy of finding evidence of it, especially when that evidence accords with my dissertation’s principal narratives. From MacFarquhar and Schoenhal’s Mao’s Last Revolution, pp. 374-5: Indigence led…
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Illiteracy
Education is fundamentally a choice. Students choose to do their homework or not, to attend class or not, to take challenging or easy classes, etc. China released statistics today that show that more people are choosing to not go to school. Illiteracy rates in China before the PRC were always high. The character based language…
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Newswar
Frontline’s tremendous recently concluded 4-part series, Newswar, discusses the present and future challenges facing the news industry. In addition to addressing the Scooter Libby case and other fights with the administration, there was a long discussion over the saga of the Tribune Compnay’s, focusing on its purchase of the LA Times. While the newspaper business…
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Environmental Social Science
If you look at the cross-national statistics for income and inequality, you will find that there is an inverted-U pattern. That is, poor countries have little inequality (i.e. everyone is poor). Rich countries tend to have relatively little inequality (i.e. everyone is rich). It is in middle income countries where you have the most inequality.…
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Harmonious Society Troops
From Boxun and ESWN, irony caught with a digital camera: The sign that the police/troops are holding says “Building a Harmonious Society.” The image was taken in Guangdong, which is home to more than its share of land grabs and associated protests. Well, at least to the land grabs and protests that end up in…
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The Fall of Manchu
There is something sad about the death of a language. Many people are interested in preserving the ‘ethnosphere.’ The NYT has a story about the decline of Manchu, the language of the Qing Dynasty. The article fits into the general narrative of such stories. It focuses on the last few speakers of the small language…
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The only thing that lasts
Two of the major themes at this year’s “Two Conferences” or Lianghui, a.k.a. the NPC and CPPCC, have been continuing to continue building the countryside and to legislate property rights. Those not paying attention might assume that this extension of property rights would be part of the effort to help those unfortunate enough to be…
Jeremy Wallace 