Krisis in Kiev

"Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance."

What would you do if you received that text message in the midst of a protest in your countries capital?  Well, many people in Ukraine had to answer that question yesterday.  Read this article from the independent for more info on the text and read this NPR article about the increasing intensity of the protests.
Ukraine is currently going through a major political upheaval.  Protesters from the pro-Europe west of the country are calling for the current President Victor Yanukovych to step down after he broke his promise to to be pro-EU.  This is specifically about Ukraine's relationship with the EU and Russia, but it is also a more broad protest against corruption in the bloated Ukrainian government.  Here is the latest article from BBC reporting on the situation.

A couple questions to consider about how it relates to some of the concepts and countries in this course.

1.  Is the Ukranian regime a democratic or authoritarian?  If the President was democratically elected, should he be able to pursue his own policy goals until his term is up?
2.  How does this relate to the different methods used by Putin to quell protests? Look at these political cartoons for more info.
3.  Who is in the wrong here?  The Ukrainian protesters for vowing to intensify the protest (with the assumption that violence is the next step)?  Or the President for breaking his promise and passing laws to stop the protests?

Comments welcomed below

Welcome to Spring 2014 COGOPO!

Welcome to Spring 2014 AP Comparative Government and Politics!  You will be using this blog as a launching point for many in class discussions about democracy, authoritarianism, political legitimacy, authority, political culture and many other topics.  The first assignment we will do is to familiarize you with the countries of study and the main storylines of 2013.  After you pick your country of expertise answer the following questions in your group for a brief presentation at the end of the class.  Sort of a State of the (insert country here).

1.  What are THE three major story lines of 2013 in your country?
2.  Why do you think these three story lines are important?  Why did you pick 'em?
3.  What, if anything, does the nature of these stories have to do with the history of your country?
4.  Do these story lines only have an impact on your country? Or do they have a more regional or international political impact?  Why is that?

Iranian news

Go to this article about potential candidates registering for Iran's upcoming Presidential election.  This is a good one as well.  Read it and post!!

Review for Iran, Nigeria, and Mexico

This Wednesday you will have a test that covers Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in the O'neil book for the multiple choice portion.  For the FRQ portion, the subject matter will be both country specific to Iran, Nigeria and Mexico, but it will also cover concepts such as globalization, ethnicity, political violence as they relate to the countries.

First read these articles (Iran, Nigeria, Mexico) and comment, keeping a thought to the concepts you wil be tested on, then get to work on reviewing.  We will do a practice FRQ towards the end of class.

Freedom House analysis of Nigeria in 2012

Go here to read an extremely detailed and illuminating analysis of the current state of Nigeria's illiberal democracy by Freedom House.  Comments, questions and analysis welcomed below.  Quarter's almost over!  Boost that participation grade!

Iran, Nigeria, Mexico and the Media

These three countries give an opportunity to look at the different roles of the media in underdeveloped countries.  Go to the following sites for Nigeria, Iran and Mexico and answer the following prompts:

1.  Compare and contrast the ways the media affects political culture in each of the countries.
2.  Analyze how the history of each of the countries is reflected in the nature of media coverage.
3.  What do you believe is the "formative event" in shaping the political culture in each of these countries?  Explain your reasoning.

The Chinese Renaissance

Forget da Vinci, Botticelli, and Titian.  The new Chinese President Xi Jinping (replacing Hu Jintao) and premier Li Keqiang (replacing Wen Jibao) vow to end corruption and extravagance with their new leadership.  Read more details here.

Comments, questions and responses below!