Browsing by Author "Von der Mehden, Fred R."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    A comparative study on the role of religious interest groups in the formulation of educational policies in the Philippines and Malaysia
    (1989) de la Cruz, Rica Melanie Perez; Von der Mehden, Fred R.; Thomas, Albert
    Religious interest groups play a significant role in the formulation and/or implementation of educational policies in the Philippines and Malaysia. In the Philippines, the groups are very active in developing ways to affect the kinds of policies being passed in government as they pertain to the educational process. The groups use a variety of mechanisms to influence government, including the publication of newspapers, pamphlets, books, monographs, etc. which clearly state their views on certain issues; extensive lobbying efforts at city hall and governmental agencies or offices; establishment of alliances with other groups of similar and sometimes even dissimilar religious persuasions; and frequent interaction with the members of the academic community. These are intended to make them more aware of the educational issues that they have to be concerned with, as well as their repercussions. The groups' active participation in government may be attributed to a variety of factors, including the separation of church and state as provided for in the constitution, the variety of religious denominations in the country, the importance of religion to the lives of the people and the absence of any restriction on the efforts of the groups to influence policies. In Malaysia, the groups are more concerned with policies after they have been implemented and react accordingly, with the intention of making government aware of their perception of the policies at hand. Like the groups in the Philippines, they utilize a variety of tools to achieve their stated objectives, as the formation of alliances, publication of journals, public rallies, among others. They have also developed ingenious ways to encourage their members to be more discerning with regard to governmental action. Thus, they form small discussion groups, which allow them to understand the necessity of Islamic education; hold prayer meetings; and even form Islamic communities where they live according to the tenets of their faith. These activities may be results of the process of Islamization going on in Malaysia, the restrictions imposed on any form of non-Muslim activity, the close relationship between ethnicity and religion and the political supremacy of the Malays in the country. These findings though preliminary, may lead to increased interest on the role of interest groups in the political process in Southeast Asia and the need to further investigate the increasing influence of religion in the various aspects of life in the countries in the region.
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    Consensus politics and Japanese defense budget policy, 1960-1975
    (1990) Campbell, Sally Howard; Von der Mehden, Fred R.
    During the Vietnam War period, the Japanese defense budget grew eight-fold, from 158 billion yen in 1960 to 1367 billion yen in 1975. In spite of the opposition parties' aversion to growth in the military, little was heard in the way of protests to such growth. In this political system where consensus decision-making dominates, it is unusual not to hear accusations of "tyranny of the majority" when the opposition is shut out of decision making, as was the case with the 1960 Treaty Crisis. However, the growing Japanese economy allowed the LDP to satisfy its desire for increased funds for the military while at the same time appeasing the opposition by restricting the defense budget's percentage of GNP to a minimum. The combination of a tradition of consensus decision making, the desire to avoid a political crisis and an expanding economy led to the ability to reach a minimum consensus on this very divided issue in Japanese politics.
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    Politics of U.S.-South Korean military relations, 1961-1979
    (1989) Yoon, Jong Ho; Von der Mehden, Fred R.
    The primary objectives of U.S.-South Korean military cooperation are the defense of South Korea against any possible external aggression and the protection of U.S. national interests in the region. The principal means of their military relations include: (1) a mutual defense treaty between both countries, signed in 1953; (2) U.S. military presence in South Korea; and (3) U.S. military assistance to South Korean armed forces. This military relationship had been characterized as unequal: South Korea was heavily dependent on the United States. After the mid-1960's, however, the relationship changed toward a self-reliant or partner status of South Korea, while the United States gained more flexibility in its obligations for the security of the country. In this context, this study attempts to analyze the military relations between the United States and South Korea during the period 1961 to 1979, a period that encompasses the most significant changes and issues in military cooperation between the two nations. In this study, two propositions are analyzed: (1) the unequal military relationship between the United States and South Korea has been dominated by U.S. political interests, which have motivated changes in their relations; and (2) in its military relationship with the United States, a primary South Korean objective has been to keep a significant number of American troops stationed in its territory. For analysis, two main categories of military interactions are chosen: combined military operations and cooperation for improvement of South Korean military strength in the context of the U.S. and Korean political environments. The former category includes the structure of the combined command system and the U.S. military posture in Korea. The latter interaction stems from U.S. military assistance to the ROK armed forces. The analysis focuses military to military relations with an emphasis on the changing characteristics of the relations and the political environments in which those changes have been generated. The results of the analysis seem to support the two propositions of this study.
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    Religion, modernization and politics in Iran: An analysis of clerical political behavior during the Pahlavi monarchy, 1925-1979
    (1989) Yazdi, Majid; Von der Mehden, Fred R.
    This study is an analysis of the political behavior of the clergy in Iran during the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-1979) within the context of the interrelationship between religion and modernization. This period itself has been divided into three eras: the Riza Shah era (1925-1941), the nationalist era (1941-1953), and the post-nationalist era (1953-1979). The analytical framework adopted here is based on three behavioral motives for clerical political involvement: religious, national, and clerical corporate interests. Within this framework, various patterns of clerical political behavior are identified, each reflecting a different order of priority of interests and motives for political action. The main point emerging from this approach is that at no time throughout this period did the clergy act as a politically monolithic group. Such distinct patterns are particularly discernable during the nationalist era (1941-1953) because of the presence of greater socio-political freedom relative to the other two major eras. A major theme developed in this study is that while the greater functional differentiation and specialization caused by modernization resulted in the clergy's loss of influence and official power in the educational and legal systems, the popular base of their political power vis-a-vis the state increased because of the clerical institution's disengagement from the government. Furthermore, the emergence of a new religious intellectual class in the process of modernization led to the ideologization of Islam which in turn was a major causal factor behind the Islamic revolution and legitimization of clerical leadership. Concurrent with this development, the core of the clerical institution underwent a process of politicization through the rise of Ayatullah Khomayni in the 1960's. The Islamic revolution of 1979 represented the mutual reinforcement of these two developments and their convergence in the direction of the establishment of an Islamic system of government.
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    The political economy of Pax Nipponica: Pacific Asia, Japanese economic expansion and elite perception
    (1995) Ray, Krittibas; Von der Mehden, Fred R.
    This thesis addresses the issue of Japan's economic expansion in East and Southeast Asia and its regional political implications. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are employed to capture the significance of Japan's economic role in the world's most dynamic and productive region. This thesis tests the relationship between elite perception of dependence on Japan and the statistical reality and evidence of Japanese economic linkages in the region. More importantly from the methodological point of view, this thesis incorporates the phenomenon of Japan's economic expansion in Asia into the political economy paradigms of development. Advanced statistical analyses are used to capture the impact of Japanese investment and trade on three standard development indicators--the economic growth rate, employment generation and human capital development in Pacific Asia. This quantitative treatment of the topic is then supplemented by 98 in-depth elite interviews taken between September 1992 and January 1993 in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Going beyond the questions related to dependency and Southeast Asian elites' concern about Japanese ventures in the region, the survey attempted to understand whether the elites regarded Japan as a potential political and military leader in Asia. Thesis findings provide access to the opinions of a powerful core group of current Asian leaders. The results from statistical analyses generally support the neo-classical model in the context of regional development experience and economic linkages with Japan. The interview analyses reveal a perception among Malaysian and Thai elites of dependence on Japan. The Asian elites are concerned about technology transfer and opening up of management in Japanese corporations. A substantial percentage of the elites perceive a Japanese economic empire in Asia. A significant finding of this research is the divergence between statistical evidence of a lack of dependent development and the Southeast Asian elites' perception of economic dependence on Japan. Another important finding is that while an overwhelming number of the elites considered Japan to be the economic leader and a potential political leader of Pacific Asia, a slight majority of the interviewed elites disagreed with the general statement that Japan could emerge as a military leader of the region.