The Perishing Political Party and Political Personality Paradox

Groningen, a.d. X Kal. Nov. MMDCCLXXII A.U.C., Throughout the West we see political parties are in decline. Fewer voters trust them to do the right thing, they attract fewer members, they attract less involvement overall, and fewer people show up at election time to support one or the other party. This is part of a...

Zambia travel report 2: Some notes on the economy

There are five things I noticed about the Zambian economy from just looking around outside and talking to people. To start, labour productivity here is low. There are many tiny shops, often selling very similar products, right besides each other, being quite empty most of the time. Similarly, in many restaurants and bars there is...

Zambia travel report 1: Kenneth Kaunda and patriotism

Lusaka, a.d. VIII Id. Mai. MMDCCLXXII, To attend the wedding of two friends of mine, I have travelled to Zambia. In these short travel reports I'll give updates on the fascinating political economic things I encounter here. To start, former president Kenneth 'super-Ken' Kaunda and patriotism in Zambia. Flying in from Johannesburg, it was announced...

Book review: W. Rostow – The Dynamics of Soviet Society

Groningen, a.d. VI Non. Mai. MMDCCLXXII A.U.C., This 246 pages long book gives a short introduction to the (dys)functioning of Soviet society up and to 1952, as seen from the viewpoint of the American historian Rostow in 1954. Peculiarly, he was not an expert on this topic, he wrote the book based on conversations and...

"It is the historian who has decided for his own reasons that Caesar's crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of history, whereas the crossing of the Rubicon by millions of other people before or since interests nobody at all. The fact that you arrived in this building half an hour ago...

Laat gemeenteraden de Provinciale Staten benoemen.

Door de koppeling van de Provinciale Statenverkiezingen en de Eerste Kamer overschaduwen de thema's die nationaal spelen de provinciale thema's zo langzamerhand volledig. Sinds de Statenverkiezingen van maart 2019 is het bestaande systeem duidelijk failliet. Een goede oplossing is om de gemeenteraden de Provinciale Staten te laten benoemen: https://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/gemeenteraden-ps

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of Brexit

Oslo, the first Óðinsdagr of mörsugur, in the 28th year of the reign of King Harald V, Despite Brexit, many Brexiteers maintain that the United Kingdom will maintain excellent ties with the with the EU and its member states. The UK is supposed to regain its sovereignty, but this should not mean that close cooperation...

Exit and Voice in Ancient Mesopotamia

Groningen, a.d. III Non. Dec. MMDCCLXXI A.U.C., In his 1970 book Exit, Voice and Loyalty, Hirschman argues there are two ways in which we can influence the behaviour of those around us. Firstly, we can exit, that is, if we are dealing with another person or organisation, and we disapprove of that person's or organisation's behaviour, we...

Book Review: W. Shirer – The Collapse of the Third Republic

Having watched the collapse of France in a mere six weeks, Shirer set out to find out how it was possible that one of the victors of the First World War imploded in face of the German onslaught. This is quite a daunting task, if only because it is hard to avoid many of the...