Baher Hussein

• Master of Arts
• M.A student at University of Toronto

What makes the politics of resentment popular in rural America? This masters research paper documents an ethnographic case study designed to provide deeper insight into public opinion in Bemidji, Minnesota, a rural town in the north of the state with about 15,434 people. I immersed myself in a political conversation with seven citizens in Bemidji...

What should we make of China's political meritocracy? The basic idea of political meritocracy in China is that high-level officials should be selected and promoted based on ability and virtue. Meritocracy in China is a tradition dating back millennia. Meritocracy was institutionalized in imperial China by means of an elaborate examination system th...

Does state capacity influence economic performance in China? In this research exercise, I will attempt a casual examination of the role of state miraculous economic performance. I will specifically examine I argue that ty to collect taxes efficiently is a miracle of modern statecraft. It illustrates to us that a strong state capacity in China beque...

Throughout its history, policy makers and intellectuals in China turned to authoritarian politics to address urgent matters. Authoritarian politics lingers on in the country to this day. In this reading summary/critique, I would like to explore why liberal democracy does not flourish in modern China like it has in Japan and South Korea. I will also...

Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has been animated by welfare reform/reversal, wage erosion, relaxing trade controls, and privatization schemes. Neoliberalism was supposed to bequeath unprecedented growth and stability but it brought about sluggish growth rates, increasing inequality, the 2008 financial crises, and riots as violent forms of resistanc...

What is the postwar development project? How does this project yield power asymmetries? In this paper, I will explore the development project as a hegemonic discourse and practice that is violent, oppressive, and degrading. We will analyze the development project as a culturally and economically dominant and disruptive force that is animated by vio...

What makes the politics of resentment flourish in sub-Sahara Africa? The politics of resentment in sub-Sahara Africa can be defined as resentment and anger towards a system of governance widely viewed as bias, exploitative and repressive. In a politics of resentment, anger manifests as a result of perceived state oppression and injustice. Instead o...

What is authoritarian neoliberalism? In this paper, I will conduct a literature review on the connections between neoliberalism and authoritarianism. I define authoritarian neoliberalism as a resilient mode of economic and political governance that is animated by complex and contradictory technocratic, apolitical, and oppressive processes that bequ...

What qualities and characteristics make a public servant in a western democracy? I explore this question by focusing on political meritocracy in the context of western democracies. Political meritocracy is the view that members of the legislative or judicial branch as well as government bureaucrats must be chosen and promoted based on their individ...

What is the effect of income inequality on voter turnout in the United States? Previous research into this relationship has produced mixed results – as consensus is lacking on whether inequality reduces turnout for all income groups. According to the political science literature, little evidence exists of a direct effect of rising income inequality...

Rural Americans and Canadians are feeling politically alienated and angry in ways that go beyond ideological preference, age, or income level. This anger and discontent yields a politics of resentment. This paper argues that ethnographic case studies can provide scholars with deep insights into the politics of resentment in rural areas. Employing a...

What makes the politics of resentment flourish in Wisconsin and Louisiana? In this paper, my purposes are (1) to outline four phenomena that nourish the politics of resentment; (2) to propose my own approach to ethnographic research that I will utilize in the future. I will document an ethnographic case study designed to provide deeper insight in...

Is there a relationship between populism and inequality? Trends across the United States demonstrate that populism flourishes in communities that experienced long-term economic and social decay. Trade, offshoring, and automation come with many fruits – but they have steadily reduced the number of available jobs and the wage of industrial workers si...

In this essay, we shall explore the miraculous and uneven wave of democratization in Africa in the 1990s. Africa experienced a wave of transitions to more pluralistic democratic systems after 1989 – as most countries in sub-Saharan Africa held some form of competitive party elections that removed some authoritarian rulers . We will find that within...

According to Freedom House, democracy in 2020 is in retreat. China, a beacon for political repression – has one of the fastest growing economies on earth, and many are looking to the China modeling and are questioning the inherent worth of liberal democracy. Today, despite the country’s strong economy, there is a political crisis in Hong Kong, inte...

The objective of this essay is to explore what makes liberal democracy flourish by exploring the political institutions of the commonwealth democracy of Canada. Notably, the most successful liberal democracies are animated by independent and robust political institutions that rest on a delicate balance of three distinct features-a robust state, the...

This discussion will discuss the history of Postmodernism and how it has ushered in our current era of post truth — which has led to the decay of political and social norms. Post-truth is a symptom of the Postmodern school of thought — and it diminishes the role of truth and reason. The rise of post-truth not only threatens our democratic instituti...

Dissecting the transportation inadequacies that presently face urban areas is crucial for enhancing modern transportation systems so as to make them more equitable and environmentally sustainable. In this essay, we shall take a Utilitarian approach to transportation, thus assessing how transportation serves the community at large. Chicago, a city w...

From the 18th century onward, the British Industrial Revolution facilitated unprecedented technological, economic, scientific and cultural innovations that have been virtually unmatched in any human civilization. Notably, the elegance of innovations such as the spinning jenny and steam engine led to new technological advances that spread throughout...

Historically speaking, Islam's Sufi traditions manifested greatly in various contexts and political orders. Sufism, which is a fairly broad term, often refers to various Islamic metaphysics, ethical disciplines, devotional practices, music, poetry and mystical experiences. The eventual decay of the influence of Sufism comes at the 20th century, whe...

Why did many colonial subjects work with the British Empire, while others revolted? To answer this complex question, one must examine the relationship between colonial subjects and their masters. Notably, not all colonial efforts produced negative outcomes for colonial subjects. In his book, The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria credits The Briti...

Today, we can thank the British empire for the formation of common law-which has proven to be the most effective legal system. Similarly, the industrial revolution has brought about new technological innovations that have improved our living standards dramatically. Despite economic and cultural innovations-it is evident that the subjugation of nati...

Fiery discussions ignite between film theorists regarding what truly defines a postmodern film. Essentially, a postmodern film's purpose is to break the cultural consensus of late capitalism by creating a new logic. In other words, postmodern films restore the erotic energy that capitalism sucks away, by applying a colorful mixture of creativity, i...

Abū Naṣr Muḥammad al-Fārābī is widely considered to be the founder of Islamic Aristotelianism — an influential branch of medieval philosophy that examines the study of Aristotle’s formal logic and natural science, while also borrowing from Plato for political matters . Farabi borrows from Plato’s Republic and outlines his own criteria for a virtuou...