Why Ariel Sharon lost the Likud party poll
Introduction Contrary to expectations raised by both opinion polls and conventional wisdom, Ariel Sharon failed to secure popular endorsement for his unilateral disengagement from Gaza plan on 2 May 2004. Sharon's scheme was rejected by 59.5 per cent of Likud Party members, with 39.7 per cent supporting it. Just over half of the registered party members participated in the ballot. This report explains why Sharon opted to consult his party members and seeks to explain the resounding rejection of his plan.
The Rise of Government-Initiated Referendums in Consolidated Democracies
The referendum has been an important decision-making device since the mid-twentieth century in very few countries. Since the beginning of the 1960s, however, there has been a striking increase in the use of referendums to settle an ever growing range of questions. This is particularly true in the consolidated democracies, though similar trends can be found in other political contexts. Two questions are raised by the increase in the frequency of referendums in the consolidated democracies. First, what can explain it? Is it circumstantial factors, such as the emergence of new cleavages, to which parties will soon respond and, by so doing, end the apparent ‘crisis of representation’ that is seemingly provoking popular consultations? Or is it part of a more structural trend, an ineluctable process whereby democracies are becoming, by means of referendums as well as other devices (such as opinion polls and televoting), more and more direct and less and less mediated? Second, is this growing use of referendums necessarily a positive development, given that ‘more referendums’ does not necessarily mean ‘more democracy’? Such a phenomenon could, in fact, merely mask the use of the referendum by governments not for genuine consultative purposes, such as giving the public a greater say in shaping legislation, but instead for instrumental and strategic purposes, such as the consolidation of governments’ own power.
Arab Uprisings and the Outstanding Return to Democracy: Tunisia as a Model
In the wake of the Middle Eastern crises, the Tunisian case in focus has been doted as a unique phenomenon being that it was the Genesis of the revolution that ultimately spread across the Middle East like wild fire, but has eventually heralded a new dawn as democracy has incidentally returned to the Empire. This literature therefore looks closely at the extent to which the ‘DignityRevolution’ has been instrumental in the Middle East uprisings, which have brought an end to dynastic autocracies. The literature zeros in on the Tunisian uprising which has attracted global concerns, sympathy and has sparked interests in the international arena. The literature finds that the people hold colossal prospect in the uprising and its resultant effect, as it paved the way for the revolutionist to generate, gather and disseminate information on the condition of the entire region to the international community. The people in this context were of utmost importance and played a very crucial role in the creation of awareness, mobilization of protesters and utmost determining the direction of the uprising and also ensuring a speedy return to democratic rule. The paper submits that the role of the people in ensuring that the ruins of the uprising is not left littering around and democracy restored is highly commendable and should be a model for all other Arab countries involved in the revolution.