Electoral Authoritarianism in Togo: How Has Foreign Aid Impacted the Democratization Process in Togo From 2005 to 2010?

After four decades of military dictatorship,Togo is still facing a dilemma of whether to break with the past and take a path of democratization or make changes in the continuity.The death of the former President Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005 was seen by the Togolese community at home and around the world as a window of opportunity or a step toward the emergence of the political liberalization in the country.Unfortunately,with the backing of the Togolese army,Faure Gnassingbe,one of the sons of Eyadema,was enthroned as the country’s new President since 2005.The international economic sanctions on Togo in the aftermath of the death of Eyadema,due to continuing human rights abuses and violations by the authoritarian regime,have accentuated the already acute suffering and poverty of the Togolese population.However,the 2006 Global Political Agreement reached between the traditional political opposition parties and the government paved the way to the normalization of the international cooperation with Togo and hence the lifting of economic sanctions by the international community.Drawing from Solow-Swan growth model and a cross-national causality test of the development-democracy-growth hypothesis of Abbas Pourgerami,this paper investigates the impact of foreign aid on the democratization process since 2005 and argues that foreign aid played a paramount role in consolidating electoral authoritarianism instead of establishing a viable democracy in Togo.

Electoral Governance and Democratization in Francophone Africa:A Critical Appraisal

The exhaustion of dictatorial powers and communist regimes ushered in the third wave of democratization in francophone Africa,through the emergence of democratic institutions essential to the holding of credible elections.This new democratic era,which redefines the stakes of power through peaceful political competition in the form of elections,marked the end,at least symbolically,of a time when a coup or popular insurrection seemed to be the only way to overthrow dictatorial regimes.The election thus appears as an instrument of regulation of political life.Through a constructivist perspective,this research aims to discuss the relationship between electoral governance and democratization in francophone Africa.It shows that even if democracy is taken as a tool of political civilization in francophone Africa,there is no institutional linking.It means that electoral must be the key for the regulation and the credibility of democratization and democracy.

The Impact of Democratization on“FDI”in Tunisia-A Comparison of Pre and Post Revolution Periods

The study examined the impact of democratization on foreign direct investment in Tunisia and has done a comparison of the pre and post revolution periods.The paper has used secondary data for the variables GDP per capita,FDI,Gross Fixed Capital Formation(GFCF),Current health expenditure(%of GDP)for the period 2001-2018.The study aims to provide arguments of the favorable political conditions for FDI,the purpose is to understand;whether,democracy and autocracy attract FDI in the Pre and Post-event of revolution in Tunisia.In addition,this investigation discusses the key elements for path dependency in democratic transitions from autocracy to democracy.The study found that there is a correlation between the adoption of a democratic regime and the FDI evolution.A democratic regime creates the right political circumstances to improve macroeconomic performance.It can stimulate growth if it is conducted in a stable political environment.

A step to the decentralized real-time timekeeping network

The composite time scale(CTS) provides an accurate and stable time-frequency reference for modern science and technology. Conventional CTS always features a centralized network topology, which means that the CTS is accompanied by a local master clock. This largely restricts the stability and reliability of the CTS. We simulate the restriction and analyze the influence of the master clock on the CTS. It proves that the CTS's long-term stability is also positively related to that of the master clock, until the region dominated by the frequency drift of the H-maser(averaging time longer than ~10~5s).Aiming at this restriction, a real-time clock network is utilized. Based on the network, a real-time CTS referenced by a stable remote master clock is achieved. The experiment comparing two real-time CTSs referenced by a local and a remote master clock respectively reveals that under open-loop steering, the stability of the CTS is improved by referencing to a remote and more stable master clock instead of a local and less stable master clock. In this way, with the help of the proposed scheme, the CTS can be referenced to the most stable master clock within the network in real time, no matter whether it is local or remote, making democratic polycentric timekeeping possible.

Challenges of Vietnamese Agricultural Cooperatives in the 21st Century:The Link Between Efficiency and Legality

The article shows that the situation of agricultural cooperatives in the world in general and agricultural cooperatives in Vietnam in particular are facing certain challenges in the context of globalization in the 21st century.The article points out limitations on:the nature,principles of democratic member control and principles of surplus distribution of the International Cooperative Alliance,as well as Vietnamese law in cooperative management.

The Middle Eastern Democratization in the Context of Anti-Americanism

The US’s Middle Eastern democratization strategy is based on realist considerations of anti-terrorism and national security,while in contrast the Islamic-Arab world’s anti-Americanism originates from negative effects of modernization and globalization along with perceptions of an inherent unfairness in the US’s Middle East policy.Consequently,the advancement of the Middle Eastern democratization processes within this context are bound to face obstacles and distortion.Anti-Americanism not only leads to the absence of a stable environment for democratization in the Middle East,but also constrains the US’s possible avenues to pursue its Middle Eastern democratization strategy when some Arab authoritarian governments use it as a check and balance to resist the US’s democratization pressure.

Considerations for a Planned Democratizing Data Framework for Valid and Trusted Data

A key requirement of today’s fast changing business outcome and innovation environment is the ability of organizations to adapt dynamically in an effective and efficient manner. Becoming a data-driven decision-making organization plays a crucially important role in addressing such adaptation requirements. The notion of “data democratization” has emerged as a mechanism with which organizations can address data-driven decision-making process issues and cross-pollinate data in ways that uncover actionable insights. We define data democratization as an attitude focused on curiosity, learning, and experimentation for delivering trusted data for trusted insights to a broad range of authorized stakeholders. In this paper, we propose a general indicator framework for data democratization by highlighting success factors that should not be overlooked in today’s data driven economy. In this practice-based research, these enablers are grouped into six broad building blocks: 1) “ethical guidelines, business context and value”, 2) “data leadership and data culture”, 3) “data literacy and business knowledge”, 4) “data wrangling, trustworthy & standardization”, 5) “sustainable data platform, access, & analytical tool”, 6) “intelligent data governance and privacy”. As an attitude, once it is planned and built, data democratization will need to be maintained. The utility of the approach is demonstrated through a case study for a Cameroon based start-up company that has ongoing data analytics projects. Our findings advance the concepts of data democratization and contribute to data free flow with trust.

The Debate on Democratic Revolution in Japan in the 1920s

Anti-hegemonic movements in Japan had occurred frequently since the early 20th century,and democratic revolution debate in the 1920s was the first significant domestic debate on future development strategy.Various discussions on it from Japanese academia involved state power,absolutism,agrarian revolution,and revolutionary strategy,etc.An analysis of early Japanese scholars’perspectives on the democratic revolution helps to know about the social milieu in Japan at that time,and is of positive significance to comprehend the development process of the current Japanese democratic revolution.

Proportion of thyroid cancer and other cancers in the democratic republic of Congo

BACKGROUND Cancer diagnosis is increasing around the world and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC).The proportion of thyroid cancer has increased over the past three decades.There are very few studies on cancer epidemiology,and in particular on thyroid cancer in the DRC.AIM To establish the most recent proportion of thyroid cancer in the DRC compared to other cancers.METHODS This is a retrospective and descriptive study of 6106 consecutive cancer cases listed in the pathological registers of 4 Laboratories in the city of Kinshasa.This study included all cancer cases recorded in the registers between 2005 and 2019.RESULTS From a sample of 6106 patients,including all cancer types,68.3%cases were female and 31.7%were male.Breast and cervical cancer were the most common types of cancer in women and,prostate and skin cancer were the most common types in men.Thyroid cancer was sixth in proportion in women and eleventh in men compared to all cancers.Papillary carcinoma was the most common of thyroid cancers.Rare cancers such as anaplastic and medullary thyroid carcinomas had a proportion of 7%and 2%,respectively.CONCLUSION Newer diagnostic tools led to a surge in cancer diagnoses in the DRC.Thyroid cancer has more than doubled its proportion over the last several decades in the country.

Using Remote Sensing to Analyse the Role of Urbanization in the Transformation of Land-Use and Land Cover in Likasi Town (Haut-Katanga, DR Congo)

Environmental change is characterized as an alteration in the environment caused primarily by human activities and ecological processes that are natural. Given the fact that the southern part of the province of Haut-Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is part of the African Copperbelt and has been a region of intense mining for decades, humans have affected the physical environment in various ways: such as overpopulation, suburbanization, wastage, deforestation. It is therefore important to track and control the changes in the area’s mining activities. This study aimed to analyze these changes using remote sensing techniques. Landsat satellite images from 2002 and 2022 were processed and classified to quantify changes in built-up area, agricultural land, and vegetation cover over the 20-year period. The classification results revealed sizable differences between the two time points, indicating considerable expansion of built-up land and declines in agricultural land and vegetation cover from 2002 to 2022 in Likasi. These findings provide evidence that urban growth has transformed the landscape in Likasi, likely at the expense of farmland and ecosystems. Further analysis of the remote sensing data could quantify the changes and model future trends to support sustainable land use planning. The land cover and land use analysis were performed with the assistance of the ERDAS 16.6.13 software by mapping LANDSAT data from two different years 2002 and 2022.

Contributions of the Measles Follow-Up Vaccination Campaign to Improving the Vaccination Coverage of Children Aged 6 - 59 Months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019

Background: In accordance with its measles elimination strategic plan 2012-2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) organized a follow-up vaccination campaign against measles from October to December 2019 in 26 provinces. This study aims to establish the contribution of this supplementary vaccination campaign to protecting children against measles. Methods: The survey was carried out in November 2020 among households of the DRC, according to the 2018 revised version of the World Health Organization’s stratified cluster sampling method, using multiple stage sampling. It targeted 280 children aged 6 - 59 months per stratum or province, with 10 children in each of the 28 selected clusters. Data collection using tablets with centralized and real-time data processing was preceded by enumeration to refine the household sampling frame. Clusters and households were selected by random draw. Data collected with CS Pro 7 software were analyzed with SPSS, Epi info 7 and Excel software to determine indicators and make before-after comparisons using the McNemar test, at a precision threshold of 5%. Results: Of the 8535 surveyed children, 89.5% were vaccinatedduring the follow-up campaign and 81.6% were vaccinated before. Only 3.7% had correctly completed campaign vaccination cards. Estimated vaccination coverage increased from 80.8% before the campaign to 92.6% after the campaign (p 0.001). Vaccination coverage after campaign against measles improved in all provinces (p < 0.001) except Bas-Uele and Maniema. Thirteen provinces reached the national coverage target of 95%, compared to five before the campaign. The proportion of zero-dose children dropped significantly after this campaign from 19.2% to 7.4% (p 0.001), and even fell below 1% in six provinces. Conclusion: This measles vaccination campaign improved overall vaccination coverage by 10% and reached more unvaccinated children. Efforts must continue to improve the retention of vaccination card, the adherence of unvaccinated children and the effectiveness of routine vaccination.

Blood Safety in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Literature Review

Background: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) faces severe malaria, postpartum haemorrhage, malnutrition and sickle cell disease that require transfusion. The latter poses immunological, infectious, metabolic and hemodynamic risks to recipients. Objective: To present transfusion safety in the DRC through data from the literature. Methods: This review consists of listing the various articles and abstracts published online and presented in scientific conferences having as a subject of interest transfusion safety in the DRC. Results: The review is dominated by articles from eastern DRC and blood mobilization is around 0.5% of the general population. All screening tests are serological with a proven residual risk. The prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections is documented at more than 80% and represents respectively 1.9%, 2.96%, 1.89% and 1.21%. The prevalence of other pathogens, the immunological and haemodynamic risk are very poorly documented (12.5% to 25%). The prevalence of Parvovirus B19 infection is 5.3% and that of bacterial contamination at 1.4%, that of malaria infestations between 0.3% and 28.3%, that of trypanosomiasis at 1.3%, that of babebiosis at 0.17% in blood donors. Allo-immunization represents 47.8%, adverse reactions 3.4%, iron deficiency 63.2, iron deficiency anemia 25.9% and anemia 36.5%. Pediatrics is the biggest user of this blood. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis infections is within the range of sub-Saharan African countries. The serological test is systematic and involves the residual risk, it is necessary to introduce the molecular tests. The prevalence of other pathogens (emerging viruses, bacteria and hemoparasites), the immunological and metabolic risk is poorly documented. The search for these pathogens, irregular antibodies and the determination of ferritin in blood donations is not systematic.

A Pilot Study about the First Cases of Coronary Angioplasty in Democratic Republic of Congo/Kinshasa: Patient Profile

Background: The objective of this pilot study was to describe clinical profile, electric, echocardiographic and angiographic caracteristics with procedural outcome of congolease patients undergoing coronarography in the first and only one cardiac catheterization center opened in Kinshasa. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out over a period from October 2019 (date of establishment of the first coronary angiography unit in DR Congo) to March 2021. We proceeded to a serial sampling of the consecutive cases of all the patients who have an angiographic exploration of coronary arteries. Clinical, ECG and cardiac ultrasound data were collected in all patients. The indications for the coronary angiography examination were set by differents cardiologists on the basis of repolarization troubles in the electrocardiogram, cinetic troubles in echocardiography, positive stress test and chest pain in patients with cardiovascular risq factors. Results: The serie (47 patients) was predominantly male with a sex ratio M/W of 2.6. The average age was 59.8 ± 10.5 years. Arterial hypertension (HBP) was the main risk factor (89.4%);followed by diabetes mellitus (14.9%). Chest pain was the main functional sign with an atypical character in 44.7%. The ECG showed ST segment depression (17%) and T wave inversion (17%), the anterior region being the most affected. Hypokinesia was the most common echocardiographic abnormality (34%), followed by akinesia (10.6%). The anteroseptal and apical territories were affected in 12.8%. Dilated myocardiopathy (DMC) was significantly predominant in the male sex (29.4% vs 7.7%;p = 0.011). With radial puncture as the main approach, coronary angiography was pathological in 44% revealing mono-truncal lesions. The left coronary network was the most affected: the middle inter ventricular artery (12.8%), the proximal interventricular artery (10.6%) and the proximal circonflex artery (10.6%). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, age (for age > 50 years for men and >60 years for women), arterial hypertension and dilated cardiomyopathy emerged as independent determinants of pathological coronary angiography. Transluminal angioplasty was performed in 27.7% of patients. The bypass indication was retained in 4.3% of cases and medical treatment in 68%. Conclusion: Coronary angiography was used to diagnose lesions responsible for ischemic heart disease and to treat 27.7% of patients locally. The young age of patients and limited financial resources encourage the strengthening of preventive measures against cardio vascular risq factors.

Research on the Role of Democratic Parties in Colleges and Universities in Building Morality and Cultivating People: Taking the General Branch of the Democratic League of Huizhou College as an Example

This article takes the general branch of the Huizhou College of the Democratic League of Huizhou College in recent years as an example. Through literature review, field research, case analysis, and other research methods, it summarized how the Democratic League of Huizhou College made good use of various activity carriers in ideological and political education. It combined discipline construction, scientific research platforms, school-government-enterprise, and other cooperation platforms. From educational methods to subject transformation and integration, and from daily teaching to social practice, it promoted the role of college teachers in the alliance to play the role of cultivating people in the era of college education reform. The aim was to put forward that in educating others, they should first educate themselves, teachers had two-way morality in terms of teacher ethics and professionalism, effectively integrated ideological and political courses into professional teaching and practice, and realized waiting for flowers to bloom in the “context”1 teaching environment like the cultivation effect of salt in water.

Path for Rural Autonomous Production after Reform and Opening-up

This paper firstly introduces research achievements in change of rural society in China after reform and opening-up. Researches are conducted mainly in household contract responsibility system and the relation between township government and village administration. From the perspective of autonomy, it reviews the course of autonomous growth in rural economic field from the economic system reform to implementation of household contract responsibility system. Then, it analyzes expansion of space of rural self-organizations and reconstruction of relation between township government and village administration. Finally, it is concluded that autonomy is a path for development of rural society.

On the Crisis of Democracy

In the last three decades of the 20th century, important political changes occurred in all regions of the world, making the institutions of many existing political systems closer to the ideals of democracy. But as happened in other moments of history, those processes of democratization, even when successful, always occurred through advances and retreats. Thus, contemporary political practices, procedures, and institutions embody democratic ideals only partially. In many nations, in the present, the rule of law, civil, and political rights, and institutional mechanisms for citizens’ control of governments remain ineffective or underdeveloped. Thus, a double concern prevails among analysts: on the one hand, the regression to authoritarianism in some countries after the processes of political changes—Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Turkey being the paradigmatic examples;the emergence of semi-democracies, i.e., hybrid or illiberal regimes, which have provoked a new interest in the study of patterns of institutional design, the critical role of civil society, different political-cultural developments, authoritarian legacies in the context of the new democracies, competitive authoritarianism and new dictatorships. On the other hand, the acknowledgement of intrinsic limits of the historical development of the democratic regime even in the case of old democracies, i.e., the fact that political equality, active citizen participation, and effective control of abuse of power have never been fully realized in practice. This is the general context in which many analysts and part of the public opinion sustain that there is a crisis of democracy. The general diagnosis refers to the decreasing trust in political elites, political parties, parliaments, governments, and to the dissatisfaction with the regime among democrats;it refers also to the weaker and sometimes erratic performance of democratic institutions and particularly to the failure of the representative system. The picture is completed with the growing rates of partisan misalignment, electoral volatility, and declining civic participation. All this seems to indicate that democracy is inconceivable without crisis. This chapter discusses this scenario. The crisis of democracies is examined from a critical perspective, and the main objective is to understand the different dimensions of its nature and its consequences.

Slightly Analyze the Historical Causes of Walt. Whitman's Democratic Poems

Walt·Whitman was one of the famous poets in American literary field. He is remembered by his masterpiece-Leaves of Grass, which composes a lot of his democratic ideas. His democratic poems and his writing styles have their historical background which helped form his democratic ideas.

An Analysis of the Reflection of the Whole-process People’s Democracy in the Legislation of China

The legislation of China provides a glimpse of the active development of the whole-process people’s democracy in the country. The system of people’s congresses realizes the broad participation of the people in national and local legislation through various channels. It fully reflects the fundamental interests and common will of the great majority of the people. The democratic and professional combination of subjects for legislation with Chinese characteristics has, to a great extent, solved the contradictions and difficulties encountered in the legislation of countries with the representative system. The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the CpC’s leadership realizes the promotion of democracy, the drawing on collective wisdom, the unifying of people’s thinking, and the building of consensus among the CpC, the democratic parties, and the general public in the process of legislation. Legislative planning is not only a result of scientific decision-making, but also one of the best democratic decision-making mechanisms proved by legislative practices. The openness, negotiation, and technical nature of legislative procedures in China are conducive to the realization of democratic management. China has established a relatively scientific, complete, and systematic constitutional filing and review system, which is also an embodiment of democratic supervision. In future legislation, China should continue to transform the values and concepts of democracy and human rights into more scientific and effective institutional arrangements and concrete and realistic democratic practices under the leadership of the CpC.

Profile of retinal diseases in adult patients attending two major eye clinics in Kinshasa,the Democratic Republic of Congo

AIM:To determine the frequency and types of retinal diseases and the extend of the related visual loss in adult patients attending two public eye clinics of Kinshasa,Democratic Republic of Congo.METHODS:Review of medical records of patients with retinal diseases seen in the major eye clinics in Kinshasa,the University Hospital of Kinshasa(UHK)and Saint Joseph Hospital(SJH),from January 2012 to December 2014.Demographics and diagnoses were retrieved and analyzed.Outcome measures were frequency and prevalence of retinal diseases,blindness and low vision.RESULTS:A total of 40965 patients aged 40 y or older were examined during this period in both clinics.Of these,1208 had retinal disease,giving a 3-year and an annual prevalence of 3%and 1%,respectively.Mean age was 61.7±10.7 y,and 55.8%of the patients were males.Arterial hypertension(68.1%)and diabetes(43.3%)were the most common systemic comorbidities.Hypertensive retinopathy(41.8%),diabetic retinopathy(37.9%),age-related macular degeneration(AMD;14.6%),and chorioretinitis and retinal vein occlusion(7.3%each)were the most common retinal diseases,with 3-year prevalence rates of 1.3%,1.0%,0.43%,and 0.21%respectively.Bilateral low vision and blindness were present in 26.8%and 8.4%of the patients at presentation.Major causes of low vision and blindness were diabetic retinopathy(14.8%),AMD(4.9%),retinal detachment(2.8%),and retinal vein occlusion(2.5%).The prevalence was significantly higher among males than females,and at the UHK than SJH.CONCLUSION:Retinal diseases are common among Congolese adult patients attending eye clinics in Kinshasa.They cause a significant proportion of low vision and blindness.