The legislature as political control: change and continuity in Cameroon's National Assembly (1973–2019)

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-506
Author(s):  
Yonatan L. Morse
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Political Control ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Control Change ◽  
The Social ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Multiparty Politics

abstractA growing literature has begun to more closely examine African legislatures. However, most of this research has been attentive to emerging democratic settings, and particularly the experiences of a select number of English-speaking countries. By contrast, Cameroon is a Francophone majority country that reintroduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s but continues to exhibit significant authoritarian tendencies. This article provides a longitudinal analysis of Cameroon's National Assembly and builds on a unique biographical dataset of over 900 members of parliament between 1973 and 2019. The article describes changes in the structure and orientation of the legislature as well as the social profile of its members, in particular following the transition to multipartyism. While the legislature in Cameroon remains primarily a tool of political control, it is more dynamic, and the mechanisms used to manage elites within the context of complex multiethnic politics have evolved.

The Social Structure of the National Assembly in Kenya, 1963–83

1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Hornsby
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Period ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Background ◽  
Party State

The study of elections and parliamentary behaviour in Africa has become a neglected topic. Whilst the emergence of political élites during and after the colonial period has been examined carefully, little attention has been paid to the structure and functioning of the modern one-party state. Emphasis has tended to shift towards the analysis of political economy and of the nature of class relations, partly as a consequence of the close linkages between economic and political relations within developing states. However, studies of post-1969 politics in Kenya are now scarce, and basic knowledge of the operation of the political system is often absent. In order to help redress the balance, this article presents and analyses data about the socio-economic background of the Members of Parliament.

Snapshots of tellings in interactions between adults and children aged two, three and three and a half in an Australian context

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 119-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Filipi
Keyword(s):  
Social Activity ◽  
Second Child ◽  
Object A ◽  
Birthday Party ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Australian English

This paper examines how and by whom tellings with two young children are triggered at ages 23, 36 and 42 months. The data for the investigation is derived from a larger Australian English corpus of over 50 hours of interactions in the home, although one of the children is a bilingual Italian/ English-speaking child. The data is derived from two parent/child dyads, and in the case of the child aged 42 months, a triadic interaction between a mother, her own child and a second child. Using the micro-analytic methods of conversation analysis, the study analyses five samples of tellings. The first two describe how a child, Cassandra, aged 23 months, is invited to recount events of her day by her parents. The trigger for these tellings is the social activity of sharing everyday routine events. The next two samples focus on Rosie at 36 months who is also invited to share a telling by her parent about a birthday party celebration and one about a neighbourhood cat, Claude. The first telling is triggered by an object, a balloon from a birthday party from the day before, while the second is triggered by play involving the character of a cat, initially derived from a favourite story, Hairy Maclary. In the final sample, Cassandra, aged 42 months, initiates a telling about an experience at her grandmother’s which is trigged by a picture in a book. The analyses in each case reveal the interactional issues that arise in the action of telling and how these are dealt with by all participants. By focusing on the three ages, key features in the children’s participation in storytelling are uncovered.

Revitalizing Difference in the HapMap: Race and Contemporary Human Genetic Variation Research

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Human Genetic Variation ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Human Genome Project

In 2000, researchers from the Human Genome Project (HGP) proclaimed that the initial sequencing of the human genome definitively proved, among other things, that there was no genetic basis for race. The genetic fact that most humans were 99.9% the same at the level of their DNA was widely heralded and circulated in the English-speaking press, especially in the United States. This pronouncement seemed proof that long-term antiracist efforts to de-biologize race were legitimized by scientific findings. Yet, despite the seemingly widespread acceptance of the social construction of race, post-HGP genetic science has seen a substantial shift toward the use of race variables in genetic research and, according to a number of prominent scholars, is re-invoking the specter of earlier forms of racial science in some rather discomfiting ways. During the past seven years, the main thrust of human genetic research, especially in the realm of biomedicine, has shifted from a concern with the 99.9% of the shared genome — what is thought to make humans alike — towards an explicit focus on the 0.1% that constitutes human genetic variation. Here I briefly explore some of the potential implications of the conceptualization and practice of early 21st century genetic variation research, especially as it relates to questions of race.

scholarly journals Tweets and Quacks: Network and Content Analyses of Providers of Non-Science-Based Anticancer Treatments and Their Supporters on Twitter

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110030
Author(s):  
Anita Lavorgna ◽  
Leslie Carr
Keyword(s):  
Online Community ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
Vulnerable Patients ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medical Discipline ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
English Speaking

Despite the consensus in the medical discipline that certain treatments lack scientific evidence and are worthless if not potentially dangerous, the promotion and selling of fake cures advertised as safe and effective has long plagued health care systems, praying on vulnerable patients and their loved ones. The web and social media are now playing a fundamental role in the propagation of non-science-based treatments and fraudulent medical claims, and in the rise of false health and lifestyle experts. This study combines criminological and computer science expertise to explore and critically analyze the Twitter presence of providers of non-science-based anticancer treatments and their active supporters in the English-speaking online community to investigate their structural relationships and to analyze the characteristics of the most popular actors. The features of the social network observed indicate that there is not a stable community of promoters and supporters of non-science-based medical treatments in the Twittersphere, suggesting the lack of a defined subculture and the presence of transient collectives rather than identifiable groups. Nonetheless, it is possible to observe dynamic conversational networks clustering around popular actors, tweets, and themes, prompting avenues for further research.

The Failure of U.S. Southern African Policy

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-22
Author(s):  
John Seiler
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Social ◽  
Military Facilities

The Nixon Adminsitration’s decision to sign an executive agreement covering U.S. access to Azores military facilities reflects the moral and practical bankruptcy of this Administration’s policy toward the white-governed territories of southern Africa. If there is to be any improvement in the social and political situation of nonwhites in Angola and Mozambique as a quid pro quo for our commitment of development funds and symbolic support, no signs of it appear in the news reports of the agreement. Whether or not any of the development projects are to be in those territories, U.S. support will contribute in a major way to the stabilization of Portuguese political control there.

scholarly journals Speech Genre: A Study of Gossip in Australian English Speaking Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-271
Author(s):  
Nurhadi Hamka
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Generic Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speech Genre ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Diverse Context

A gossip as a casual conversation usually occurs in diverse context or a wide range of social situations; has distinct and various topics; and involve an irregular set of participants. The scholars scrutinize that conversation has highly structured activity of which people tacitly realize that there are some basic conventions to follow – such as when to speak or to stay silent and to listen. In this study, I specifically discuss one of the speech genre – a gossip, in Australia English speaking context. The gossip data of the study is taken from the research conducted by Thornburry, Scott, and Slade, Diana (2006). In a discussion, I focus the analysis of the generic structure of the gossip and how it establishes the social function (within) the speech members. Several findings conveyed that: 1) there is a leeway of shifting from one genre to another – e.g. narrative to gossip, within the same participants; 2) conversation can be successful if all the participants aware of and follow the basic conventions – when to talk or to listen, support to judgement or reluctant to the focus of conversation; 3) the genre, e.g. narrative or gossip, could motivate people to leave or to join the conversation which then could establish and reinforce the group membership and maintain the values of the social group.

scholarly journals Wish You Were Here; A Short History of New Zealand Muslims and Integration

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-370
Author(s):  
Abdullah Drury
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Short History ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

The recent court case of the Australian terrorist responsible for murdering 51 worshippers inside two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has focused attention on this South Pacific nation. Nation-building, with its inherent practices of inclusion and exclusion into the social hierarchy, began here in the nineteenth century and accelerated throughout the twentieth century. History of Muslims in New Zealand, or New Zealand Islam, is a rich narrative illustrative of tendencies and biases that are both common to, as well as divergent from, patterns elsewhere in the English speaking world and Western societies in general. The integration of Muslim immigrants and refugees, and converts to Islam, into this complex social bricolage, however, has been challenging and at times convoluted. This essay will support us to consider why and how this is the case.

scholarly journals The Limits of Income Inequality: Public Support for Social Policy across Rich Democracies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Breznau ◽  
Carola Hommerich
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Societies ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Income Concentration

Does public opinion react to inequality, and if so, how? The social harms caused by increasing inequality should cause public opinion to ramp up demand for social welfare protections. However, the public may react to inequality differently depending on institutional context. Using ISSP and WID data (1980-2006) we tested these claims. In liberal institutional contexts (mostly English-speaking), increasing income inequality predicted higher support for state provision of social welfare. In coordinated and universalist contexts (mostly of Europe), increasing inequality predicted less support. Historically higher income concentration predicted less public support, providing an account of the large variation in inequality within the respective liberal and coordinated contexts. The results suggest opinions in liberal societies – especially with higher historical inequality – reached the limits of inequality, reacting negatively; whereas in coordinated/universalist societies – especially with lower historical inequality – opinions moved positively, as if desiring more inequality.

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