547 research outputs found
The Palestinian political parties and local self-governance during the British Mandate: Democracy and the clan
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in "The British Mandate in Palestine" on 26 February 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429026034This chapter discusses the various election cycles that the Palestinian Arabs went through during the period, and their effect on the formation of the Palestinian political parties, both at the national, and the local government levels. The Palestine mandate is considered a critical period for the emergence of Palestinian nationalism. The chapter focuses on local Arab self-governance during the period, political rivalry at the national level, and the competition between clans. The most important decision taken by the Palestinian Arab Congress was to boycott the 1923 elections to the Legislative Council. The 1936–1939 Arab revolt was the ideological and political implementation of Palestinian national demands when all the Palestinian political leaders joined forces. The involvement of the Arab league in 1946 sponsored the establishment of the Second Arab Higher Committee, support by the Palestinian parties. The relatively short period of 30 years of the British Mandate over Palestine was fraught with massive changes
Arab-Palestinian society in the Israeli political system: integration versus segregation in the twenty-first century/ Rami Zeedan.
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (pages 107-124) and indexes.The book examines the integration of Arab-Palestinian society, an ethnic minority within the nation-state of Israel, in Israel's political system and the relation between political trends, leadership, and identity. It also delves into the causes of the crisis in Arab localities and the relations to the local political structure.Arabs in the Israeli three branches of power -- Arab identity and political trends in Israel -- Crisis in Arab-Palestinian municipalities in Israel.1 online resource (xxx, 134 pages
Social Identity and Voting Behavior in a Deeply Divided Society: The Case of Israel
No full textThis paper examines what best explains political behavior in a deeply divided society. Despite the democratic nature of the Israeli political system, we suggest that Israel’s society is characterized by social affiliations mainly defined by social identity that include race, ethnicity, and religion and amount to tribalism. Based on the results of the 2020 election, we examined whether these social affiliations or other socioeconomic characteristics better explain voting behavior. First, we found a significant correlation between tribalism and voting behavior in Israel and socioeconomic characteristics and voting behavior in Israel. When comparing tribalism’s correlation versus other socioeconomic characteristics, we found that the correlation between tribalism and voting behavior in Israel trumps the correlation between socioeconomic characteristics and voting behavior in Israel, except for the Ashkenazi Jews. In other words, voting behavior is better explained by affiliation to the social group, that is, by kinship, race, ethnicity, and religion, than by other socioeconomic characteristics such as education level, economic status, or geographic location. This extends the idea of “in-group favoritism”
Predicting the Vote in Kinship-Based Municipal Elections: The Case of Arab Cities in Israel
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs on 15 Feb 2018, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13602004.2018.1432149.This paper examines the feasibility of using pre-election polls in kinship-based municipal elections in Israel, and the methods needed to increase the accuracy of predicting the results. The research focuses on the Arab society in Israel, which is an ethnic minority within a nation-state and a traditional society and that its municipal elections are characterized as kinship-based elections. The results of municipal elections in four Arab cities and towns show that pre-election polls succeeded in predicting the elections’ outcome with high accuracy. This research suggests the use of “Clan Sampling” in which the sampling is according to the sub-tribal societal structure—and further suggests applying the “Cross-Section” treatment for the undecided. Separately applying one of the two treatments gave a high level of accuracy; the accuracy further increased when applying the two methods together. By adjusting the methods used, pre-election polls were found to be accurate in predicting the vote in elections within a traditional Arab society
The Role of Military Service in the Integration/Segregation of Muslims, Christians and Druze within Israel
No full textThis study applies the negative peace/positive peace approach to internal nation-state relations between the majority and ethnic minority. This approach focuses on the policies implemented by the state. In order to understand the social system from its formation, an important focus should be given to the period of establishment of a new state, whereas physical borders are defined along with the borders of society, which determines who is included in the new nation and who is excluded. The conclusions are based on the case of the Israeli Druze, an ethnic minority with whom the state of Israel and its Jewish majority have achieved positive peace. This study suggests that the positive peace with the Druze was achieved following their integration in the army—as a decision of the state of Israel—that lead to their integration in the Israeli society. Conversely to the Israeli Muslims, where a negative peace is maintained, following the early year’s state policy to exclude them
The 2016 US Presidential Elections: What Went Wrong in Pre-Election Polls? Demographics Help to Explain
No full textThis study examined the accuracy of the various forecasting methods of the 2016 US Presidential Elections. The findings revealed a high accuracy in predicting the popular vote. However, this is most suitable in an electoral system which is not divided into constituencies. Instead, due to the Electoral College method used in the US elections, forecasting should focus on predicting the winner in every state separately. Nevertheless, miss-predicted results in only a few states led to false forecasting of the elected president in 2016. The current methods proved less accurate in predicting the vote in states that are less urbanized and with less diverse society regarding race, ethnicity, and religion. The most challenging was predicting the vote of people who are White, Protestant Christians, and highly religious. In order to improve pre-election polls, this study suggests a few changes to the current methods, mainly to adopt the “Cleavage Sampling” method that can better predict the expected turnout of specific social groups, thus leading to higher accuracy of pre-election polling
Bigger but not always better: Size and democracy in Israeli amalgamated local governments
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Urban Affairs on 17 Jan 2017, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07352166.2016.1262701.This study discusses the amalgamation of local governments as a method of creating larger and more effective local governments that place fewer burdens on central government budgets. Beyond economies of scale, our findings from a case study of Israel’s 2003 amalgamation plan support the democracy claim. This study reveals that amalgamation reduces local democracy in terms of voter turnout and representation. The likelihood of having a greater level of local democracy increases in smaller local governments, in terms of population. The new efficiency and democracy approach suggests that a new amalgamated local government must be sufficiently small to maximize local democracy. At the same time, new amalgamated local governments need to be sufficiently large to maximize economies of scale. This study uses field research with in-depth interviews to enhance the findings of the empirical analysis
College student engagement and success through inclusive learning environment and experiential learning in courses about Israel and Palestine
No full textIntroduction: This study examines the impact of pedagogical redesign on two courses about Israel and Palestine, focusing on fostering an inclusive learning environment. The project aimed to address challenges such as student retention, attendance, participation, and academic performance by implementing innovative teaching strategies tailored to diverse student backgrounds.
Methods: The redesign incorporated several key interventions: an experiential learning-based final assignment, scaffolded into multiple steps with opportunities for feedback; group discussions to promote active learning and cooperation; and the integration of optional multimedia resources, such as YouTube videos and podcasts, to enhance engagement and time on task. Additionally, students were involved in the evaluation process by providing feedback and were offered the opportunity to publish their final projects on a public website, further incentivizing their work. To examine the effectiveness of these changes, the study employed a mixed-methods approach. This approach involved the collection and analysis of both quantitative data (such as surveys and performance metrics) and qualitative data (such as student feedback and one-way ANOVA analysis) across six undergraduate course offerings between 2019 and 2024.
Results: The interventions were tested with students from varied backgrounds engaging in complex discussions. The initial findings revealed significant improvements in critical metrics, including reduced drop/fail/withdraw rates, increased time on task, and higher grades. Students demonstrated enhanced engagement and a more positive overall learning experience, indicating the potential for further positive outcomes.
Discussion: The preliminary results suggest that the implemented pedagogical changes effectively created a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. By integrating experiential learning, providing timely feedback, and utilizing diverse resources, the project demonstrated the potential for scalable improvements in student outcomes
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