drastic changes in the economic environment and mostly owing to the violent conflicts themselves, the object of the claims – the ability to control profitable enterprises – has shrunk; the loot has therefore practically disappeared. Struggle for power in Tbilisi Three different and slightly overlapping phases in this struggle can be easily identified: the wresting of political power from the Communist Party apparatus 130 Civil wars in Georgia led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia (April 1989–May 1991); the ousting of President Gamsakhurdia from power (September 1991–November 1993
British citizen, some decisions which will affect you are made by ministers from Italy, Belgium, Portugal and the rest. But these ministers cannot be made responsible to that British citizen. Authority and legitimacy Political power should only be exercised in a democracy where there is proper authority for that power. Only with such authority can an institution be said 214 Understanding British and European political issues to be legitimate. European Union institutions draw their authority from less secure sources than do national bodies. Parliament is elected, of
were fundamental to the ruling elites’ accumulation of political power. In his chapter about the principality of Waldeck in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Andreas Flurschütz da Cruz shows how even very small European states could gain considerably from subsidy deals with states such as Venice, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. Waldeck thus serves as an example of how subsidies could help secure smaller states’ place within the Holy Roman Empire and build their positions within the noble hierarchy of Europe. Tilman Haug, while discussing the often
Without Borders ( Berkeley and Los Angeles : University of California Press , 2013 ), pp. 79 – 80 . 6 M . Barnett and T . Weiss , ‘ Humanitarianism: A Brief History of the Present ’, in M . Barnett and T . Weiss (eds), Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics ( Ithaca : Cornell
. 66 Cottle and Cooper, ‘Introduction’. 67 M. Barnett and T. G. Weiss (eds), Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008). 68 Jones, ‘The Disasters Emergency Committee
superior ‘community of values’ which would authorise it to conduct such military acts of violence against other, ‘lesser’, states. NATO presents itself as an agent with a humanitarian purpose and moral values, untainted by politics, power and persuasion, which notions are now replaced by such concepts as morality, authority and force. NATO has conducted an epistemic war to secure its
nineteenth century, the development of the political power of the middle classes within capitalist states also refined the concept of the nation. The creation of mass democracies and notions of popular sovereignty during the twentiety century created the notion of nationality being related to citizenship . Nations and national identity, in the eyes of some commentators, are artificial formulations
. Anti-democrats were regarded as supporters of out-dated and reactionary institutions and views and the defenders of undeserved privileges of wealth and political power. Rousseau, in The Social Contract (1762), was the most influential of many writers who attacked the concept of absolutist monarchy . He wanted a new society based on reason, free individuals, and a social contract between government and people. The American and French
becomes a balance of interests, institutions and, ultimately, political power in society. Thus both chaos and tyranny are avoided. Liberalism has a number of key themes: the individual and his/her rights; an optimistic view of human nature; a belief in progress; a commitment to freedom; limited government; the economy and liberalism; a commitment to internationalism. The individual and his/her rights At the heart of liberalism is the
exist. Besides, historical manifestations of fascism have been so tied up with the extraordinary personalities of its leaders that some critics have simply dismissed it as a vehicle for political power. Such articulation as exists was later fudged to provide a spurious intellectual justification for illegitimate power, such as Franco’s fascist regime in Spain. There is a problem caused by fascism