Political Parties all over the world remain pyramidal structures with Power-Corruption built-in, as members compete for higher positions on the organizational ladder. This Blueprint offers an alternative. Today we possess sufficient practical knowledge about interpersonal dynamics that we can use to structure decision-making processes in ways both humanly decent and politically effective. Alternatives developed in Applied Behavioral Science can work for persons who want to become empowered by organizing without becoming corrupted by power struggle and Machiavellian practices. At the very least, this Blueprint contains the strongest antidotes to Power Corruption that has poisoned the lives of idealistic and conscientious reformers and revolutionaries in the past. Political organization that puts power in the hands of all members at all times rather than in the hands of top leaders would be a radical departure from all the unsuccessful earlier attempts to organize.

What accounts for the widespread disillusionment with politics? Person-centered Politics suggests that politics today, through its structures, processes, and institutions tends to presuppose and to impose a certain caricature of the human person that inhibits and frustrates a real sense of personal participation in an authentic common good of politics and society. In 12 chapters that touch on fundamental themes of political philosophy, Person-centered Politics proposes the social and transcendent dimensions of personal existence and their application to the renewal of politics today. The themes explore the commonly accepted assumptions of politics today and how a renewed understanding of the person can invigorate political discourse and action. In Person-centered Politics the author is in continuous dialogue with some of the major contemporary philosophers and thinkers, such as Eric Voegelin, David Walsh, Robert Sokolowski, Vaclav Havel, Pierre Manent, Peter Simpson, and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Detailed footnotes in each chapter provide reference to further sources of enlightenment and research. Person-centered Politics proposes an outline for a renewed vision of politics that is centered on the truth of human existence, and not a politics that distorts and suffocates the human spirit, because, in the words of E. Voegelin, ‘the right order of the soul through philosophy furnishes the standard for the right order of society’—and not the other way round.

Building on the time-tested, reality-based discipline of general semantics, Olek Netzer provides a guide for clear and critical thinking, a guide for the perplexed that steers individuals in the direction of enhanced rationality and improved evaluation of our experiences, environments, and ourselves. His concern is with both our psychological well being and our societal health, as he addresses interpersonal relations as well as political persuasion and propaganda, drawing on some of the most important thinkers of the past century Lance Strate, President of the Institute of General Semantics, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. Olek Netzer is an independent researcher in Political Psychology and a political activist residing in Tel Aviv, Israel.

This is the first English-language survey of Pakistan’s socio-economic evolution. Mohammad Qadeer gives an essential overview of social and cultural transformation in Pakistan since independence, which is crucial to understanding Pakistan’s likely future direction. Pakistan examines how tradition and family life continue to contribute long term stability, and explores the areas where very rapid changes are taking place: large population increase, urbanization, economic development, and the nature of civil society and the state. It offers an insightful view into Pakistan, exploring the wide range of ethnic groups, the countryside, religion and community, and popular culture and national identity. It concludes by discussing the likely future social development in Pakistan, captivating students and academics interested in Pakistan and multiculturalism. Qadeer’s impressive work is a comprehensive examination of social and cultural forces in Pakistani society, and is an important resource for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Pakistan.

This unique volume is about how ordinary people construct political meanings, form political emotions and identities, and become involved in or disengaged from political contests. Drawing on psychological anthropology, it illustrates the complexities of political subjectivities through engaging personal stories that complicate our understanding of the relationship between culture and politics. Chapters examine the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street in the United States, third gender activism in India, Rastafari in Jamaica, Courage to Refuse in Israel, the environmental movement in the U.S., Salafi movements in northern Nigeria, post-socialist labor politics in Romania, and anti-immigrant activism in Denmark.

Political corruption is one of the globe's most pressing yet seemingly permanent problems. It is a root cause of low growth and inequality, and plagues numerous nations throughout the world in varying degrees. In Political Parties, Business Groups, and Corruption in Developing Countries, Vineeta Yadav tackles the puzzle of corruption by analyzing the role that business lobbying plays in it. She shows that the structure of a developing nation's legislative institutions frequently determines whether such institutions promote or restrain corruption. Combining focused studies of legislative institutions and business groups in India and Brazil with a broader survey of corruption in sixty four developing democracies, Yadav shows how systems with powerful parties rather than ones with powerful individual legislators encourage the most corruption. A rigorous comparative examination of the connections between political institutions, lobbying, and corruption, this work will reshape our understanding of how developing country democracies can both discourage and encourage bribery, vote buying, and influence peddling.

Native scholars explore the relationship between political parties and democracy in regions around the world. The development of political parties over the past century is the story of three stages in the pursuit of power: liberation, democratization, and de-democratization. Political Parties and Democracy is comprised of five, stand-alone volumes that probe the realities of political parties at all three stages. In each volume, contributors explore the relationship between political parties and democracy (or democratization) in their nations, providing necessary historical, socioeconomic, and institutional context, as well as the details of contemporary political tensions. Contributors are distinguished indigenous scholars who have lived the truths they tell and are, thus, able to write with unique breadth, depth, and scope. They show the parties of their respective nations as they have developed through history and changing institutional structures, and they explain the balance of power among them—and between them and competing agencies of power—today.

Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island country located in the southern Caribbean Sea, southeast of Grenada and northeast of Venezuela. The country has a rich cultural heritage that is a blend of African, Indian, European, and indigenous influences. Its population is diverse and multiethnic, with Africans being the largest ethnic group, followed by people of Indian descent. English is the official language, and Hinduism, Catholicism, and Islam are the major religions. The economy of Trinidad and Tobago is heavily dependent on the energy sector, particularly oil and gas production, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's GDP. The country is also known for its vibrant cultural scene, including the annual Carnival celebration, which is a major tourist attraction. Trinidad and Tobago has a democratic government, with a president as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The country is a member of several international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

This book provides an in-depth look into key political dynamics that obtain in a democracy without parties, offering a window into political undercurrents increasingly in evidence throughout the Latin American region, where political parties are withering. For the past three decades, Peru has showcased a political universe populated by amateur politicians and the dominance of personalism as the main party–voter linkage form. The study peruses the post-2000 evolution of some of the key Peruvian electoral vehicles and classifies the partisan universe as a party non-system. There are several elements endogenous to personalist electoral vehicles that perpetuate partylessness, contributing to the absence of party building. The book also examines electoral dynamics in partyless settings, centrally shaped by effective electoral supply, personal brands, contingency, and iterated rounds of strategic voting calculi. Given the scarcity of information electoral vehicles provide, as well as the enormously complex political environment Peruvian citizens inhabit, personal brands provide readymade informational shortcuts that simplify the political world. The concept of “negative legitimacy environments” is furnished to capture political settings comprised of supermajorities of floating voters, pervasive negative political identities, and a generic citizen preference for newcomers and political outsiders. Such environments, increasingly present throughout Latin America, produce several deleterious effects, including high political uncertainty, incumbency disadvantage, and political time compression. Peru’s “democracy without parties” fails to deliver essential democratic functions including governability, responsiveness, horizontal and vertical accountability, or democratic representation, among others.

Abdulkadir Tanrikulu was born in Diyarbakir in 1961 and was educated in the journalism faculty of Ankara University. He left his studies of journalism and public relations in the fourth year. He worked as a journalist for two years during the most violent period in Turkeys southeast (19881990). Following this, he took management positions in several private companies. During his life following university, he closely observed society. He observed that the instincts of people in situations where terrorism prevails affected their behaviour in an unhealthy manner. He witnessed the state becoming more aggressive and the destruction of the concept of justice and judicial organisations that would affect the future of the people. He witnessed the effects of an unhealthy environment on forthcoming generations, how they suffered, and how families lost hope. He wrote about these experiences in books several times but, each time, did not consider the end product to be sufficient, and he abandoned these projects, destroying the books. The author also observed the spiritual interactions of the people and witnessed the reactions of religious organisations to an environment where terrorism was rife. The books he wrote on these subjects he also destroyed without publishing. If you have no respect for your profession, the place you live, your individual or societal identity, your status within society, your beliefs, no matter what your ideology is, if you have no respect for human values, you are merely a savage. Eventually he came to this conclusion: if you cannot be human, you are nothing but a savage.