Kuwaits Parliamentary Democracy

Kuwait's Parliamentary Democracy Kuwait The Ruling al-Sabah Family The al-Sabah family has been ruling over the region since 1756, when it emerged as the most powerful clan among the al-Utub tribal grouping. The tribe had migrated from the Saudi heartland to escape famine. Unlike other ruling families on the Arab Peninsula, the al-Sabah family didn’t seize power by force so much as accede to it by consensus, in consultation with other clans and tribes. That non-violent, deliberative characteristic has defined Kuwaiti politics for much of the country’s history. Kuwait gained its independence from Britain in June 1961. The 50-seat Assembly was established by Kuwait’s November 1962 constitution. Next to Lebanon’s parliament, it is the longest-serving all-elected legislative body in the Arab world. Up to 15 legislators may serve as both lawmakers and ministers. The emir appoints cabinet members. Parliament does not confirm them, but it can vote no confidence in ministers and veto government decrees. No Parties There are no officially recognized parties in parliament, which has it benefits and drawbacks. On the beneficial side, alliances can be more fluid than in a rigid party system (as anyone familiar with the strictures of party discipline even in the U.S. Congress can attest). So an Islamist might join forces with a liberal on any given issue quite easily. But lack of parties also means lack of strong coalition-building. The dynamics of a parliament of 50 voices are such that legislation is likelier to stall than move forward. Who Gets to Vote and Who Doesnt Suffrage isn’t anywhere near universal, however. Women were given the right to vote and run for office only in 2005. (In the 2009 parliamentary election, 19 women were among the 280 candidates.) The 40,000 members of Kuwait’s armed forces may not vote. And since a 1966 constitutional amendment, naturalized citizens, who account for a considerable portion of Kuwait’s population, may not vote until they’ve been citizens for 30 years, or ever be appointed or elected to any parliamentary, cabinet or municipal post in the country. The country’s Citizenship Law also gives government wide latitude to strip citizenship from naturalized Kuwaitis (as was the case with thousands of Palestinian Kuwaitis following Kuwait’s liberation in 1991 from Iraq’s invasion. The Palestine Liberation Organization had backed Iraq in the war.) Part-Time Democracy: Dissolving Parliament Al-Sanah rulers have dissolved parliament whenever they thought it challenged them too aggressively or legislated too poorly. Parliament was dissolved in 1976-1981, 1986-1992, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2009. In the 1970s and 1980s, dissolution was followed by long periods of autocratic rule and strictures on the press. In August 1976, for example, the ruling Sheikh Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah dissolved parliament over a dispute between the prime minister (his son, the crown prince) and the legislature, and ended press freedom, ostensibly because of newspaper attacks on Arab regimes. Crown Prince Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, in a bit of a hissy fit, complained in his exit letter that â€Å"cooperation between the executive and the legislative branches is almost absent,† and that deputies were too quick with â€Å"unjust attacks and denunciations against ministers.† Namely, himself. In reality, parliament was dissolved over tension related to the Lebanese civil war, which involved the PLO and other Palestinian factions, and its effects on the large, restive Palestinian population in Kuwait. Parliament wasn’t reconvened until 1981. In 1986, when Sheik Jaber was himself the emir, he dissolved parliament because of instability trigfgered by the Iran-Iraq war and falling oil prices. Kuwaits security, he said on television, â€Å"has been exposed to a fierce foreign conspiracy which threatened lives and almost destroyed the wealth of the homeland.† There was no evidence of any such â€Å"fierce conspiracy.† There was plenty of evidence of repeated and angry clashes between the emir and parliament. (A plan to bomb Kuwait’s oil pipelines was uncovered two weeks before the dissolution.)

Top 10 Ways to Waste Time in College

Top 10 Ways to Waste Time in College College life is hard. As a student, you most likely balance your classes, homework, finances, a job, friends, a social life, a relationship, cocurricular involvement, and ten million other things all at the same time. Its no wonder, then, that you may need to just spend time, well, wasting time now and then. But how can you tell if youre wasting time in a productive or nonproductive way? 1. Social Media Productive uses: Catching up with friends, socializing, connecting with family and friends, connecting with classmates, relaxing in a fun way.Nonproductive uses: Gossiping, snooping out of boredom, obsessing over old friends or partners, getting information out of jealousy, trying to start drama. 2. People Productive uses: Relaxing, hanging out with friends, socializing, getting to meet new people, engaging in interesting conversations, experiencing new things with good folks.Nonproductive uses: Malicious gossip, looking for people to hang out with because youre avoiding a task, feeling like you have to be part of the crowd when you know you have other things to do. 3. The Internet Productive uses: Doing research for homework, learning about topics that are interesting, catching up on current events, looking into academic opportunities, looking for employment opportunities, booking travel to visit home.Nonproductive uses: Stumbling around just to keep boredom at bay, looking at sites you werent interested in in the first place, reading about people and/or news that have no connection or impact on your time in school (or your homework!). 4. The Party Scene Productive uses: Having fun with friends, letting yourself relax during the evening, celebrating a special event or occasion, socializing, meeting new people, building friendships and community at your school.Nonproductive uses: Engaging in unhealthy behaviors that impede your ability to do things like homework and going to work on time. 5. Drama Productive uses: Getting help for your friend or yourself during a time of need, connecting a friend or yourself to other support systems, building and learning empathy for others.Nonproductive uses: Making or being involved with drama that is unnecessary, feeling the need to fix problems that arent yours to fix and that cant be fixed by you anyway, getting sucked into drama simply because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. 6. Email Productive uses: Communicating with friends, catching up with family, contacting professors, exploring job or research opportunities, dealing with administrative offices (like financial aid) on campus.Nonproductive uses: Checking email every 2 minutes, interrupting work every time an email comes in, emailing back and forth when a phone call might better suffice, letting emails take priority over other things you need to do at your computer. 7. Cell Phone Productive uses: Communicating with friends and family, dealing with timely matters (like financial aid deadlines), calling to solve problems (like bank errors).Nonproductive uses: Texting every 10 seconds with a friend while trying to do another task, using your phone as a camera/video camera all the time, checking Instagram at bad times (in class, in conversation with others), always feeling like its the priority instead of your task at hand. 8. Movies and YouTube Productive uses: Using to relax, using to get into a mood (before a Halloween party, for example), just hanging out with friends, socializing, watching for class, watching a clip or two for fun, watching videos of friends or family, watching impressive feats or performances, watching snippets on a topic for a paper or project.Nonproductive uses: Getting sucked into a movie you didnt have time to watch in the first place, watching something simply because it was on TV, watching for just a minute that turns into 2 hours, watching videos that add nothing to your own life, using as an avoidance from the real work you need to do. 9. Video Games Productive uses: Letting your brain relax, playing with friends (near or far), socializing, learning about new games while meeting new people.Nonproductive uses: Losing sleep because youre playing too late at night, playing for too long when you have homework and other work to do, using video games as a way of avoiding the realities of your college life, not meeting new people because youre alone in your room playing video games too much. 10. Not Getting Enough Sleep Productive uses (are there really any?): Finishing a paper or project that took longer than expected, engaging with other students about something so exciting its worth missing a little sleep over, meeting a scholarship deadline, doing an activity instead of sleeping that truly enriches your college life.Nonproductive uses: Staying up too late on a regular basis, missing so much sleep that you arent functional during the time you are awake, having your academic work suffer, having your physical, mental, and emotional health suffer from lack of sleep.