Arizona SB 1062: Changing Norms and Comparative Governing and Politics

A couple of governmental and sociological teaching points coming out of this week's breaking news where Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer (R) vetoed SB 1062, a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to deny service to lesbian and gay customers.

First, with a reminder that my Sociology class has its Culture and Society test on Monday, Brewer stated that "long held norms on marriage and family are being challenged,'' For Monday's test, there may be a short answer essay on what leads to cultural and societal change.

Second, our government and politics talking points (hopefully you'll share your thoughts here during your break).

Domestic:
Was Gov. Brewer's decision all about the "Benjamin's" -- be it Constitutional (14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause or about the dollars that it could cost the state, as expressed by national businesses like Marriott in this letter (right) urging the veto?

• Among the First Amendment's five basic liberties is the right to freely exercise your religious beliefs. This makes the United States, a liberal or industrial democracy that has rule of law that protects civil rights and civil liberties. But some have said this decision lessens one of these rights at the expense of another. Your thoughts?
• This Watchdog media exchange shows how we are not a democracy (despite the above) but rather a republic with checks and balances in a federal system with reserved powers to state's like Arizona. Also, how many politicians use the media as a scapegoat.

Comparative:
For Bonus Popp blog points, take any of our CP 6 and look into any same sex legislation it has on the books and summarize in the comment section. (ie: What Would -- UK, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, Nigeria -- Do?)

Crisis of (new) Nation-building in Ukraine

 

 

BBC News: 'Protesters Should Stay in Square' says opposition leader

To try to tap into comparative government's attempts to solve a real Crisis of Nation building building currently developing in the Ukraine, on Wednesday we will hold a Model UN-type of General Assembly meeting, with the goal of producing a resolution on the situation in Kiev.

First: Watch the videos linked above and read the article, Europe's New Battlefield. Individually, you will need to fill out a dialectical journal (dialectical journal Ukraine linked and Shared at Wolak Google Docs page).

Second: You and your partners in your country of case study, will follow the Model UN format, and draft a resolution on what to do about the situation in the Ukraine. Each resolution must have a comparison to political cleavage that your country has/or is dealing with. The format for your resolution is linked here:

Sample Model UN Resolution

Third: On Wednesday, will have a simulation with the goal of drafting a joint resolution of the multi-national organization. Would this solve the crisis? Is it even possible to agree to a joint resolution coming from these comparative/contrasting  political cultural perspectives.

Country Briefs to get you started:

Russia:  Russia to help Ukraine solve the crisis, if Yanukovych asks Is this a crisis for Putin's Russia, as Sen. John McCain suggests above. Russia considers the Ukraine a near abroad. An Ukrainian cleavage can be seen in the map below. As written in The Economist article, "Of all the former Soviet republics that won independence in 1991, Ukraine was arguably the most passive."  Also, may need to consider Chechnya.

 

China:  China Urges Ukraine to Resolve Crisis

Think Tibet and/or Taiwan here.

 

Mexico: Interestingly, as U.S. President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Harper made strong statements on the Ukraine this week from Mexico where the NAFTA leaders are meeting, Mexico has been pretty silent diplomatically. Ukraine comments underscore how NAFTA trade partnership is drifting. Research and consider the Mexican ethnic conflict in Chiapas here.

 

Iran: Not exactly a global partner in the UN, the Iran foreign ministry had this to say Thursday. Foreign intervention to exacerbate situation in Ukraine: Iran.

 

Nigeria: Nigeria has its own rebel issues, this week President Goodluck Jonathan order the closing of the northern boarder of Cameroon. But as long as two years ago, the Nigerian ambassador to Ukraine warned against Nigerian students from studying there

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/19/3945940/obama-heads-to-mexico-summit-amid.html#storylink=cpy

Putin and the Oligarchs

 

Putin and the Oligarchs -- Foreign Affairs

Watch the two videos and read the article, "Putin and the Oligarchs." By Monday, in the comment section, complete the following 3-2-1 flipped assignment:

3 - Pick three quotes from the article and roll an analysis of the quotes (like you do on your dialectical journals)

2 - Compare/Contrast two Oligarchs -- KHODORKOVSKY and any other -- like Mikhail Prokhorov (owner of the Brooklyn Nets).

1 - What is your one take away (summary paragraph) on Putin and the Oligarchs.

Mock Springfield Agenda and other "Democracy is a Verb" Action

 

 

 

 Political Warriors -- See Mock Springfield Agenda above. It's Thursday at Neuqua Valley from 5:45-to-8 pm.

Also remember the other "Democracy is a Verb" opportunities:

• Feb. 25 at West Chicago Community H.S. -- 6-to-8 pm -- Candidates Fair followed by the one and only Lt. Governor debate of candidates prior to the March 18 primary. This will be a student run debate. Submit your questions for the candidates at #bemygov.
• March 1 at Waubonsie Valley -- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- Campaign 'Field Day.' Political Warrior students will have the opportunity to get a hands on real-world campaigning experience just over two weeks before the primary. At least three governor campaigns will be represented and they WANT YOU to help them GOTV (get the vote out). Be here for experience at phone banking or pavement-hitting pamphlet passing as we take action in our political process. WV government teachers will make this more than worth your while. Plus there will be free pizza!

Happy President's Day!

Tomorrow we will do our Russian BBC Country Profile, where the presidency is a bit different. For example, the Russian president can pass law by decree. But before we do, we should reflect back on the U.S. President's we honor today. At one time a day to honor George Washington, then another day was added to laud Abraham Lincoln, now it's one day to honor all 43 -- love 'em or leave 'em.

 As CitizenU wrote:
 Most of us learned our U.S. history by way of presidential stories.

Washington began it all.

 Jefferson purchased Louisiana then hired Lewis and Clark.

 Jacksonian democracy resulted in a chaotic inaugural.
 Lincoln saved the Union.
 Roosevelt gave us a New Deal and then saved the world.
 Kennedy brought sex appeal, and so began a revolution.
 Nixon broke our trust.
 Reagan made us feel good again.

  The threads that weave our American story invariably include one of our forty-three Masters of Ceremony, one of our Chief of State, one of our Presidents. For this reason we honor our Presidents today.

 President's Day, at one time only a day to celebrate Washington, is now dedicated to remembering much more. A strong single executive has guided the rich tapestry of American history. Our story is wrapped in Presidents’ stories.

 The President of the United States truly matters. Yet citizens matter too. Perhaps this is why our presidential candidates expend so much energy these days. Without us, their stories become less important.

 Happy President's Day. For a holiday bonus two points, blog here your favorite presidential quote captured here. And by the way, do you think the Youdia film poster was liberal, moderate, or conservative in the based on the quotes they chose?
 _________________

Traditional Government Assisgnment:

 Identify any presidential liberal or conservative quote and explain what makes it liberal or conservative. Do you agree or disagree with the quote? Answer here in the comment section (3 points, due Monday, 2/24.

Red-Letter Day

 

 

Enjoy the Communist Party Valentine's found by a former student of mine two years ago, while you think of if Valdimir Putin, as returned president of Russia, has a Soviet-style Cult of Personality following today in Russia.

The Telegraph (UK) reported last November, that:

One in four Russians believe country is mired in Vladimir Putin cult of personality

The number of Russians who believe the country is in the grip of a Soviet-style cult of personality centred around Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has more than doubled in the last six years, a poll has shown.

The poll, conducted by the independent Levada Centre, came as Mr Putin prepared to return to the Russian presidency for a controversial third term amid signs that he sees himself as a Charles De Gaulle father-of-the-nation like figure.

The survey was conducted last month and revealed that exactly one quarter of Russians believe that such a cult does exist, while a further thirty per cent said they saw increasing signs that such a cult was emerging.

The findings reflect a big swing in public opinion.

In 2004 when Mr Putin was president, only 10 percent of those asked said they thought that a cult of personality had grown up around him.

Since then, Mr Putin's dominance of state TV and of the country's political life has only grown however, and his supporters have been increasingly vocal about casting him as the man who saved Russia from the chaotic 1990s and restored national pride. . .


 

Has hosting the Sochi Winter Olympics, made for an even greater Putin cult?

 

__________________________________

 

 

 

Above, PBS Sound Tracks, "A Man Like Putin," looks at Putin at a high of popular culture, if not political culture,  popularity.

 

 

Putin targeted Virgin voters in this 2012 campaign ad. One Minute News' story above, full version of ad below.

 

Ken Wedding (in 2010) posted this compilation of the Cult of Putin that is still going strong in Russia, even if the economy is not:

Karmin Tomlinson, who teaches in Oregon City, OR, sent along these hints for understanding part of the Putin mystique.

The video for "I want a man like Putin" Такого как Путин (English version)

Or how about Такого как Путин / One Like Putin (English subtitles)?

If you want 28 seconds of The Putin Girls (just the song): I want a man like Putin

And here are the translated lyrics for "I Want a Man Like Putin"

My boyfriend is in trouble again,

He got into a fight and got stoned on something,

I am sick of him and so I told him, 'get out of here',

And now I want a man like Putin.

A man like Putin, full of energy,

A man like Putin who doesn't drink,

A man like Putin who wouldn't hurt me,

A man like Putin who wouldn't run away from me.

I saw him in the news yesterday,He was saying the world was at the crossroads,

It's easy with a man like him at home or out and about,

And now I want a man like Putin.

"Here's another music video: Putin forever - Путин навсегда

And yet another: Putin "the legend"

How about a blog entry on the Putin Cult?

_______________

So is Putin following akin to the Stalin legacy that still lingers in parts of the post-communist Russian world?

Read this article from The Economist from 2003, and blog your thoughts.

Still Mourning Stalin?


"Democracy is a Verb" tomorrow (everyday?) at WVHS

 Calling all Political Warriors not yet registered to vote for the March 18 Primary, whether you will be 17 or 18, thanks to the new Suffrage @ 17 law all Waubonsie Valley seniors that will be 18 by November's general election can register to vote here tomorrow and vote in the March 18 Illinois Primary.

All you need is two (2) forms of ID, one with your address on it. It will take you 2-5 minutes and you will have done your part as Citizen Warrior, and earn 5 points of extra credit in government class.

Additionally, on Feb. 25 at West Chicago High School (326 Joliet St, West Chicago), students will host the four GOP candidates for Lt. Governor in a campaign fair/debate hosted by the Mikva Challenge. This will be a civics opportunity that will gain you additional bonus points in your government curriculum.

Join us from 6-7 for a campaign fair featuring statewide and congressional campaigns. Then the main event starts at 7 pm when Mikva Challenge students will moderate a debate between the four Republican candidates for Lieutenant Governor. Submit questions on Twitter at #BeMyGov.

Worth it? The World now Watches Most Expensive Games Ever

 

 

Your assignment for Tuesday, read the beginning of the Hauss Chapter 9 (225-234) on Russian history. Then ID in the comment section here, from the reading (Hauss and Sochi or Bust) four victories (things that are working in Russia) and a fail (one that isn't) to tie to a theme of the Sochi Opening Ceremony's fail (epic?) of the fifth snowflake that did not turn into an Olympic ring. You should also watch this insightful, 17-minute documentary.

 

Part I:  Go back to the article, and find 2-3 specific examples of what is working in Russia and what is not.  (Why did the 5th ring not work?)

Part II:  Is it De’ja’ Vu all over again in the Russia, as the Hauss Chapter asks in the opening?

Answer in the comment section before the end of the day Tuesday, 2/11.

 

 

 

 



European Union explained (ish)

We will have our EU "Dance Party" on Friday after Thursday's test (Review Hauss Ch. 2; Know Hauss Ch. 4) but like the AP Comparative Test this Spring expect a general question, or three, on the European Union on the exam.

 

 

As The Guardian writes, "The European Union is grappling with its deepest crisis in 60 years, a malaise that goes beyond the euro debacle and the enormous tide of debt swamping the continent. The union seems exhausted. Expansion has ground to a halt. Sluggish EU economies are being eclipsed by rivals in Asia and Latin America. "Brussels" has become a dirty word, no longer only in Britain...

"At this critical juncture, six leading newspapers from the largest EU countries have come together in a joint project to build up a more nuanced picture of the EU and explore what Europe does well and what not so well.

"We begin by investigating the benefits the EU has brought to 500 million people and later today examine the national leaders labouring to steer it out of its current difficulties. Tomorrow we look at euroscepticism and national stereotyping. At the end of the week, you can take our "How European are you" test and see how you and other European readers rank."

The series' home page at The Guardian is at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/europa

The College Board's article on the Challenges of EU enlargement is linked here (thanks to apgov.org)

Challenges of EU Enlargement

 

The Pint: A battle EU supporters couldn't win

A classic blurb re-run to teach about the European Union and its struggles when its bureaucratic rules, backed up by legislation from the European Parliament, challenge national sovereignty, sparks fly. What's a sovereign nation to do?In this, the latest example involving the EU and its members, the EU bureaucrats, using their wide range of discretion, seem to have backed down.

The defenders of pints, miles, and pounds (as weight, not money) are not entirely satisfied. By the way, those of us not in the UK (or the Republic o Ireland) might not understand that the pint is the most important of these traditional measures.

EU gives up on 'metric Britain'

 

The European Union is set to confirm it has abandoned what became one of its most unpopular policies among many British people."It is proposing to allow the UK to continue using pounds, miles and pints as units of measurement indefinitely..."Under the plans which have now been scrapped, even displaying the price of fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces would have become grounds for a criminal prosecution."The decision to back down was made by Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen... 'I want to bring to an end a bitter, bitter battle that has lasted for decades and which in my view is completely pointless.

Bono: EU definition lies eight miles away


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601932,00.html

(Sustainable development in Africa may be one the topic choices for our final exam project. Following the lead of my favorite rock star when he read the founding document of the EU, the Treaty of Rome, 2007, we will consider the EU's role in Africa here in this re-run post.)

In saying the West’s (particularly Europe’s) greatest depends on how it deals with Africa, Bono wrote in an essay in Time Magazine:

“Fast-forward 50 years. An Irish rock star reads the treaty with the enthusiasm a child has for cold peas but does uncover what I think technocrats might call poetry. Not much of it--just a turn of phrase here and there. Like Article 177, which summons the signatories to foster "the sustainable economic and social development of the developing countries and more particularly the most disadvantaged among them" and calls for a "campaign against poverty in the developing countries." Not exactly Thomas Jefferson but a glimpse of the kind of vision that might bind us.

Over the next 50 years, we might need a little more poetry. Europe is a thought that has to become a feeling--one based on the belief that Europe stands only if injustice falls and that we find our feet only when our neighbors stand with us in freedom and equality. Our humanity is diminished when we have no mission bigger than ourselves. And one way to define who we are might be to spend more time looking across the eight miles of Mediterranean Sea that separates Europe from Africa.

There's an Irish word, meitheal. It means that the people of the village help one another out most when the work is the hardest. Most Europeans are like that. As individual nations, we may argue over the garden fence, but when a neighbor's house goes up in flames, we pull together and put out the fire. History suggests it sometimes takes an emergency for us to draw closer. Looking inward won't cut it. As a professional navel gazer, I recommend against that form of therapy for anything other than songwriting. We discover who we are in service to one another, not the self.

Today many rooms in our neighbor's house, Africa, are in flames. From the genocide in Darfur to the deathbeds in Kigali, with six AIDS patients stacked onto one cot, from the child dying of malaria to the village without clean water, conditions in Africa are an affront to every value we Europeans have ever seen fit to put on paper. We see in Somalia and Sudan what happens if more militant forces fill the void and stir dissent within what is, for the most part, a pro-Western and moderate Muslim population. (Nearly half of Africa's people are devotees of Islam.) So whether as a moral or strategic imperative, it's folly to let this fire rage.”

The entire text of Bono’s essay is linked at the top. You, of course, can refer back to http://www.data.org/ for more information. The ONE Campaign is an example of a grassroots (really netroots) linkage institution.

As a group, the EU countries have committed 0.7% of GDP to help the poorest of the poor. So far, as the saying goes the check is, well, in the mail. At the end of the essay, the songwriter pens, “What will define Europe in this new era…..Part of the answer lines eight miles away.”

If only it could become a hit.

Welfare State Analysis

Today's assignment Part One (due Wed. 2/5) is to review and analyze the British Welfare State:

1) Review the notes in your packet.

2) Click on the BBC link: Among the features, read:

3) Breadline Britain (timeline), Hard Times & Poverty in UK

4) Blunket on Welfare State & State of Welfare (charts) and

5) 1st Time Buyers & Then & Now: A Hospital's Story

When done reading and taking notes, write your own 10 question BreadlineBritain quiz (with questions & answers).

Do Not just copy the quiz that is on the page, although you should take that when you are done. Quiz must be typed.

BBC: Breadline Britain

Part Two

In a one-page social and economic analysis, take a side on what the UK should do about its economic slump.

UK inflation falls to 2% target rate in December -- unemployment rate at 7.1%

Inflation in Euro Zone Falls, and a 12% Jobless Rate Doesn’t Budge

In your position paper, back one of two famous ecomonic thinkers.

John Maynard Keynes. Regardless of what other economists say, Keynes' brand of interventionist fiscal and monetary policy have trumped times like these since the Great Depression. The influential writings of Keynes, the British liberal who died back in 1946, still hold court in both Democrat and Republican circles in America and have been foundation of the British Welfare State. Central to his economic theory was the importance of deficit spending. The government is to play an important role in "priming the pump" of the national economy. Laissez - faire is out, active intervention is in. This is now economic dogma here in America. Not quite that far out in the UK.

Milton Friedman. Friedman’s view was that inflation, at the time a serious problem in many countries, was caused by governments pumping too much money into the economy.

At the same time Friedman was convinced that private individuals and companies should be given as much freedom as possible to carry out economic activities. Friedman became the most outspoken economist of his time, promoting small governments, low taxes, free markets and privatisation.He attacked even the dominant theory of the time, developed by the British liberal thinker John Maynard Keynes among others, who espoused capitalism with a softer, more human face.Friedman promoted capitalism in its basic and less human forms, centring on a fundamental belief in the working of markets and privatisation: market fundamentalism.

In 1976 Friedman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics, which gave him the status to impress not only generals like Pinochet, but others including British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) and US president Ronald Reagan (1981-89).

Poor F.A. Hayek, the conservative economist doesn't get the nod on the blog. But he goes toe-to-toe with Keynes in this popular econ rap. Hayek also had the eye of the "Iron Lady." He received new attention in the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of conservative governments in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. After winning the United Kingdom general election, 1979, Margaret Thatcher appointed Keith Joseph, the director of the Hayekian Centre for Policy Studies, as her secretary of state for industry in an effort to redirect parliament's economic strategies.

Super Bowl on the Political Spectrum

(By Rex Huppke, Chicago Tribune)



Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., shows his true colors with his Peyton Manning jersey


Now that the State of the Union address is out of the way, Americans can focus on the most important political event of the year: the Super Bowl.
While most view the game as a chance to be entertained by men colliding with other men, true students of lightly fabricated American history know Sunday's clash is all about political power.

The first Super Bowl was in 1967 and featured the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. Liberals hated the Chiefs because the team name was disrespectful to Native Americans, and conservatives hated the Packers because the name reminded them of unionized meat-packing workers.

Though the Super Bowl was billed as a "sporting event," Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson had secretly made a backroom deal with Republican lawmakers: If the Packers won, liberals would call the shots for a year; if the Chiefs won, conservatives could have their way.

The Packers won 35-10, and later that year, Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law, leading to liberalism's greatest achievement: National Public Radio.

Since that first game, liberals and conservatives have always chosen Super Bowl teams in a battle for ideological supremacy. This year will be no different.

That's why I'm here to help you understand which team you should root for when the Seattle Seahawks meet the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

If you're a liberal, you definitely want to pull for the Broncos.

Here are a few sensible reasons:
• Quarterback Peyton Manning is known for distributing the ball fairly evenly among his receivers. That's socialism, and it makes him the Barack Obama of football.
• A bronco is a horse, and horses are an eco-friendly means of transportation, making the Broncos the Toyota Prius of NFL teams.
• While Colorado has its fair share of conservatives, the state is crawling with nature-loving liberals who savor the mountains, forests and easy access to bulk granola. (Marijuana is legal in Colorado, but it's also legal in Washington, making the liberal narcotic factor a wash.)

Conservatives will undoubtedly pull for the Seahawks, for the following reasons:

• A sea hawk is another name for an osprey, a bird of prey that kind of looks like an eagle. Nothing is more American than an eagle, and thus the Seahawks are the more patriotic of the two teams.
• Though Seattle is known as a hotbed of liberalism, the city is home to coffee giant Starbucks and online retailer Amazon, two companies that have embraced the spirit of capitalism by crushing small businesses around the globe. If you believe in large profit margins and the free market, Seattle's the team for you.
• The Seahawks' defense is stout and immovable, not unlike congressional Republicans who have successfully tackled almost every piece of legislation the president has run at them. It's the kind of gridiron gridlock that will inspire GOPers to cheer mightily for Seattle each time Manning (aka Obama) tries to run a play.

Now that you know which team to support, a quick word on ideologically pure snacks.
Nachos are a Super Bowl favorite. If you're a liberal, you want to make sure your nachos are meat-free and made with organic blue-corn tortilla chips (with flaxseed) purchased from a Whole Foods that you can ride to on your recumbent bicycle. You'll also want to charge your guests for each plate of nachos and donate the money to a group that advocates for immigration reform.

If you're conservative, you'll want to use potato chips instead of tortilla chips, because tortilla chips are just corn-based illegal immigrants. Top the chips with a wide variety of freshly killed endangered animal meat, then smother the works with Freedom Cheese (Velveeta). Also, don't call them "nachos." Your guests will prefer "Patriot Meat Dip."

This should be enough to give you a properly politicized Super Bowl Sunday.

Oh, one last thing. If you're a libertarian, just sit around and explain to the liberals or conservatives you happen to be around that rules only hurt the game and referees are a big-government intrusion on the individual player's rights and liberties. Then grab a plate of meatless nachos or Patriot Meat Dip, sit back and root for a tie.
rhuppke@tribune.com

Mexican Pragmatism

   (Thanks, Ken Wedding, Teaching Comparative Blog)  
 Most comparative textbooks include a line, somewhere in a chapter about Mexico, that the success of the regime and the PRI is, in part, due to the pragmatic approach that government and party leaders have taken.

In other words, ideology and "perfect" solutions have taken a back seat to what works. The recent changes to the petroleum industry would be one example. This is another, reported by the BBC last week.

Mexico to integrate vigilantes into security forces

Mexican vigilante groups in western Michoacan state have agreed to join the official security forces after weeks of taking the law into their own hands.

 The "self-defence" groups have recently taken over a number of towns in their attempt to drive the Knights Templar drug cartel from the area.

The government announced on Monday that the vigilantes would now be integrated into units called Rural Defence Corps…

The "self-defence" groups have accused the government of not doing enough to protect locals from the cartels, which extort local businessmen and farmers.

The vigilantes launched an offensive earlier this month, moving close to the stronghold of the Knights Templar cartel in the town of Apatzingan.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the new units would be "temporary" and "under the control of the authorities to cooperate with the troops"…

One of the vigilante leaders, Estanislao Beltran, said his group was keen to speed up the process. "We are going to dedicate ourselves to regularising our status, having a legal status," said Mr Beltran…
_______________________

Ken Wedding, the former Chief Reader of the AP Comparative Exam, publishes some of the best AP Comparative GoPo. Check out the What You Need to Know and the new Just the Facts! If we order in bulk, you can save money. Post here if you are interested.