Dictatorship of the party? is this the only dictatorship that you see creating a problem in jordan? what a funny guy Batir. I like to read your analysis because they are funny. what’s next, will you be blaming the the dictatorship of the people in jordan? move away, i want to throw up.

The reason that there is no political participation is because honestly there is no way of achieving any credible experience or access without joining the path of those who already have such status … kinda like what some are already doing …

but that will eventually corrupt since its the easier path, to the rest of the youth they could care less not because of persecution (its not like that has been an anomaly in neither our history or world history and it never stopped anyone) it is just they haven’t been pushed beyond their comfort zone to actually give a damn or they are over burdened with day to day life that they can’t care… slavery through “democracy”

I guess looking through the pigeon hole can be taken as opening the space for debate and progress. while on the other hand i think batir got it right, more on more that mentality is taking over the youth but in really very small dosages and total lack of organization.

Yeah, the youth and politics…in radical countries such as Iran, students elect their rep. freely (where in Jor. half of the council is hand picked), and in Iran students get to meet,shout,argue with their leaders on a weekly basis. What a radical,backwards country.

You’ve changed man,you used to be cool!

PS:Ok, between you and me, you go there because you’re hitting on someone’s daughter and you are trying to impress? Unless you are planning on being Jordan’s next political miracle that would come up with amazing solutions like sub. the TOYOTA coasters for minibuses?

PS2:You know I’m joking, right?

On funding:
It’s crazy to even consider gov funding. Totally out of whack. If a party wants money from the gov, then they may as well just apply to become gov employees. What’s the point?? The myopic whining of ‘give us money… from anywhere’ is tiring. There is private money in this country so we really do not need the gov to fund political parties - nor should we allow ourselves to consider it. It’s crazy. The challenge (i.e. real work) is to define a strong agenda, engage active party members, maintain enthusiasm and dedication, work on practical ideas towards making life in Jordan better. Once established correctly, with the engaged active members, fundraising becomes second nature. Enough with the begging! Do the work and do it well, the money will come.

On Ministers not sticking around long enough to deliver and being bogged down with ceremonies:
Why not redefine their job descriptions! Distribute the ’social’ responsibilities across all departments, so that heads of departments in ministries are empowered to integrate and lead. This way if a minister does serve a short term, at least there are people on staff who can ensure continuity and are empowered to ‘own’ certain areas of their job. So rather than seek the convoluted approach of a parallel political system, ministers and their ministries need serious HR, operational & attitudinal restructuring to help run an operation successfully and effectively. We should also try to embrace the culture of passing the baton rather than starting from scratch every time a new person comes into office.

On youth participation:
Our political parties law of 1992 (http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/pol-parties.html) puts an over 25 age minimum. If kids are not aware, active and engaged while in high school, re-engaging them at 25 is a huge challenge with little impact. Human beings are born creative, brave, passionate, enlightened and curious, among other amazing traits. These are some of the qualities that drive us to action. If not nurtured and given space to grow and become a catalyst for engagement, by 25 a kid is jaded, uninspired, apathetic and fearful. If kids are engaged at an early age, they can transform their societies eventually and overcome their parents’ fears and complexes.

We need to close our eyes and imagine a better world for this Jordan. We need to imagine it in detail, color and sound. And when we open our eyes, we need get up, roll up our sleeves and get to work. This means losing at times. This means taking risks. This means making voices heard. This means saying no even when being coerced to say yes. This means build aggressively and assertively on the good. This means real collaboration rather than personal alliances.

But most importantly I think, this means driving with our hearts and intellect rather than the fear that infiltrates our air and soul!

1. How is “political party” defined? From what I understand, apart from the IAf political parties in Jordan are generally built up around small groups of individuals looking to bring back goodies to their relatives. It seems like anybody can form their own political party.

a. How could the government ensure that these funds are being used legitimately (i.e. to finance political party activities)? If funds are not monitored and anybody can create their own party…well… it would be a great way to make some spare cash!

2. Would government financing of parties encourage more people to get involved? Here I am inclined to say no. Parties are weak in Jordan because people obtain the services/goods/policies they want from the government through other means, namely personal connections.

3. Who would financing benefit the most? I am inclined to think that it would benefit parties who followers have fewer resources to devote towards campaign donations and such. Like the IAF, for example.

We have federal financing of individual presidential candidates for the general election, but it’s a small chunk of change, a surface counterargument to the common claim that US elections are dominated by big money and big business, which disproportionately benefits the Republican Party. Point is: if people think that partisan activity will get them the policies they want, they will donate and organize on their own, no government funds necessary.

i also want to add, its not only fear of having political participation on epense of personal costs that prevents young people, and even old people (i would say that hardly anyone in jordan is involved actively politicaly in parties)from joining the political process, but its also, the faith that no party, elections, democratic process available now that can lead to any actual on-the-ground changes. or effect the country policies and political direction.

so its two major point in my opinion, lak of evidence that participation will make any change at all, and lak of evidence that participation wont come with personal expenses (jail, “black mark in your record”, all the things people fear would effect their present and future).

thank you for writing about this.