Journal of Developing Societies

To understand political science, we must understand political power. Our misunder-standing of political power is especially problematic for those concerned with comparative politics.Political Elasticity (PE) theory, including the concepts of ‘quality of power’ and ‘political software’, is used to examine and clarify such dichotomies as: (i) transitive and intransitive power; (ii) hard and soft forms of power; and (iii) power as a resource and power as a relationship. What PE theory attempts to prove (by presenting many examples and using comparative case studies) is that political power tends to be more elastic (with rubber band and balloon characteristics) in more developed countries than in less developed countries.As the conclusion, the relationship of democracy to the evolution of political power is examined, including questions having to do with corruption, authoritarian rule and bureaucratization.The PE theory is also defended against criticisms that it is ‘untestable’ and ‘tautological’.

This article focuses on the changing nature of state-society interactions in the state of Bahia, Brazil and on the factors that condition democratic participation. During several research trips, conducted between 2001 and 2006, I collected data on participatory budgeting and on participatory urban planning in the city of Salvador. I was therefore able to compare two thematic sites where local states interacted with society in general, and with civil society speci?cally. In both cases, I found a very wide gap between the de jure mandate of citizen participation and the de facto state of affairs. The examined empirical cases point to some of the conditionalities of democratic participation at the local level. The existence of this gap between law and reality can, in part, be explained by the continued importance of ‘Carlismo’ as a way of doing local politics in Bahia and therefore, to the persistence of local political regimes persisting despite changes in political leadership.

The discourse on social capital brings to the fore its valuable attributes in facilitating trust, generalized reciprocity and collective action. Moreover, it creates an awareness of the influence of these attributes on the extent to which citizens participate in matters of policy and decision-making. It was with these benefits in mind that the South African government introduced ward committees in 2004, as intermediaries structured to encourage meaningful participation between local communities and the state.

It is in this context that the article examines the extent to which the ward committee, in a low socio-economic residential area called Bonteheuwel, was effective in realizing the stated purpose. The main findings suggest that while the ward committee may have been effective in certain aspects, the extent of its effectiveness was limited by the poor attendance at public meetings; the general impact of poverty on collective action; the exclusionary nature of organization through sectors; and the lack of substantive influence in the decision-making process.

Sustainability is a relatively new theme in Jordanian architecture and planning, but the city of Aqaba's new development plan has been elaborated on the basis of sustaining the city's social and economic development as well as its physical environment. No other city in Jordan has been planned on the basis of sustainability. Between 2000 and 2004, a special planning unit produced the current plan for achieving a sustainable city in Aqaba. The plan envisages investments of over US$6 billion and the creation of some 70,000 jobs by the year 2020. This article examines the work undertaken by the planners of sustainable Aqaba and appraises the outcome. A number of conclusions are presented about the need to encourage sustainability in the future planning of other areas as well as in the solution of many of Aqaba's problems.