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Political Change And Modernization: Northeast Thailand's Quest For Identity And Its Potential Threat To National Security, Kanala Sukhabanij Eksaengsri

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

In the process of political development and modernization, an “identity crisis” occurs when members of a distinct community discover that what they had once unquestionably regarded as the physical and psychological definitions of their collective selves are no longer acceptable under newly-emerging historical conditions and changes. This is exactly the case of Northeast Thailand following the Administrative Reforms of King Chulalongkorn and the subsequent “takeovers” of the regional power base and the local political structure by Bangkok officials. The suppression of the Isan political identity, the brutal executions of the outspoken Isan political elites and the continued neglect of the …

Political Metamorphosis: An Historical Profile Of The Democratic Party In North Carolina, 1800-1892, Jerry Lee Cross

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The history of North Carolina's Democratic Party between 1800 and 1892 is one of changing party leadership and membership composition. Wealthy landowners—the planter elite—saw their power and total dominance of state affairs slowly ebbing away until shifting populations, war, and a greater demand for political equality swung the balance of party power to the smaller farmers and businessmen. In effect, a political metamorphosis took place. The alteration was not a smooth process nor even a consistent one. New ideas and change were resisted stoutly by a succession of leaders, and intra-party conflict was more often the rule than the exception. …

Elites And Society In Modern Greece: Cabinet Circulation And Systemic Change (1946-1976), Kleomenis Spiro Koutsoukis

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The primary concerns of this study are a) to present an evaluative overview of the Greek ruling elite in its evolving social setting, and b) to examine the changing composition of the cabinet elite (N = 589) from 1946 to 1976, especially as it relates to systemic change.

The first part of the study describes how an identity crisis resulting from the Ottoman slavery led the Greek elite to make Europe its point of reference and adopt European cultural patterns. This quest for identity was materialized internally by the imposition on school curricula of classical studies and “katharevousa” language, which …

From Empire To Dependence: The Evolution Of Turkish Underdevelopment, Doğu Ergil

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Both Turkish and western explanations of the decline and demise of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire, and later, of the inability of Republican Turkey to become a developed polity have generally been of a superficial nature. To Western scholars, the Turks lacked the necessary qualities to become a civilized (Western) nation due partly to their “barbaric” past and partly to the incompatibility of Islamic culture with Western ideas and institutions. The Turkish thinkers on the other hand emphasized other explanations at different historical periods: the Ottoman scholars believed that the moral strength of the nation had loosened up and corrupt practices …

The Role Of The Budget Bureau In Truman's Domestic Legislative Program; An Examination Of Atomic Energy Control, Military Unification, Housing, And Civil Rights, Peter E. Piccillo

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The role of the Budget Bureau in the domestic legislative program of Harry S. Truman began in the latter years of the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Long before his death, Roosevelt had lost the ability to lead Congress in the direction of liberal domestic reform legislation. He did, however, retain the power of his style, and maintained a majestic image of leadership and accomplishment. In hopes of regaining the legislative initiative after the war had been won, Roosevelt campaigned in 1944 on a platform of victory overseas and an “Economic Bill of Rights” at home. With the death of …

Thunder Without Lightning : Working Class Discontent In The United States, 1929-1937, Robert S. Mcelvaine

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

In nature, thunder cannot exist without lightning. In the political realm, however, the two are separable. Rumblings of discontent can, and often do, occur without the firebolt of revolution.

The depression of the 1930s was a decade of thunder on the left in the United States. The working class became increasingly conscious of itself and discontented with the existing socio-economic system. The peals were always there, and they often reached crescendos. Yet the full force of the tempest never broke upon America in the thirties. The pages that follow explore the thundering and seek to explain how Franklin D. Roosevelt …

A Quantitative Comparative Study Of The Jewish And Palestine Political Elites (1920-48), Taisir Najm Nashif

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The object of this work is to study the backgrounds and circulation of the Jewish and Palestinian Arab political elites. Chapter I is a discussion of elite theory and its relevance for the study at hand, as well as a delineation of who constitutes the two elites and what features of their backgrounds and careers this study is concerned with.

Chapters II and III present a detailed quantitative analysis of the two elites’ backgrounds and circulation patterns. Circulation patterns are related to changes in or continuance of social background characteristics as indicators of recruitment patterns and political aims. Chapter IV …

The Russian Judicial Reform Of 1864; Its Origins And Development, 1825-1864, Stephen Wilson Mcintire

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The Russian Judicial Reform of 1864 has been hailed as one of Alexander II's “Great Reforms.” For it, along with the emancipation of the serfs, the creation of the zemstvos and, somewhat later, the military reforms, he inherited the appellation “Tsar-Liberator.” Most historians have regarded him as an enlightened and liberal monarch who intentionally set out to change fundamentally the constitutional foundations of the Russian Empire. In contrast, these same historians have consistently viewed his father and predecessor, Nicholas I, as a reactionary opponent of all change. Once freed from Nicholas’ tyrannical rule, the Russian people were then able to …

The Origin Of The 1810 State Council And Its Functioning During The Reign Of Alexander I, David R. Egan

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The need for a formal institution to assist the monarch in the governing process led to the establishment of a number of advisory bodies which can be considered predecessors of a state council in Russia. The Boyar Duma, for example, although an ill-defined body without legally determined competence, functioned for centuries as a consultative assemblage that assisted the sovereign in a wide variety of matters. It was replaced in 1708 by a Private Chancellery (Blizhniaia Kantselariia) of the tsar which, in turn, was replaced in 1711 by the Governing Senate. From 1711 to 1810 there were no less than eight …