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Comparative Politics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Comparative Politics

Constructing Heroic Ideologies: Mao And Reagan, Alexander A. Bowe Jun 2013

Constructing Heroic Ideologies: Mao And Reagan, Alexander A. Bowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The political hero cult of Mao Zedong is archetypal in terms of the development of a modern cult of personality. It was centrally planned and used by the Chinese Communist Party as a political weapon. Its development is well-documented, but this paper describes an element of it that has not been discussed, which is the fact that the true object of veneration in the Mao cult was actually his ideology as a distinct entity from the man himself. This ideology's creation was the original purpose of the CCP's participation in his cult because it was a source of political legitimacy. …


Syria: Not Libya, But Let’S Treat It Like It Is Anyway, Eric A. Heinze Jan 2013

Syria: Not Libya, But Let’S Treat It Like It Is Anyway, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The articles by Condoleezza Rice and Simon Adams advance a series of disquieting possibilities for the future of Syria if the US and other states fail to act. While I am sympathetic to the urgency with which both writers advance their claims, there is much strained and stretched logic—as well as outright naiveté—in both authors' arguments, especially Rice's.


Spectacle, Sacrifice And The State: The Legacy Of European Fascism And The Revival Of Martyrdom In The Modern World, Gerald Robert Pace Jan 2013

Spectacle, Sacrifice And The State: The Legacy Of European Fascism And The Revival Of Martyrdom In The Modern World, Gerald Robert Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise of political martyrdom in the contemporary world is not a new phenomenon but can be traced back to at least the early Twentieth Century with the rise of European Fascist movements. Both they, and the fascist-like movements of today, share a cluster of characteristics that allow for fruitful comparisons of the ways in which martyrdom spectacles are used to communicate with constituent populations, facilitate a culture of violence, perpetuate their revolutionary zeal and demonstrate the characteristics of the ideal citizen. Examining four major movements; Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, the Palestinian Hamas and the modern Iran, this dissertation argues …