ENG 204 Lecture, Fall 2010

To: Ms. Rima Deeb From: Ibrahim Intabli Date: October 28, 2010 Subject: Proposal for a research on the forms Lebanese politicians and leaders misuse their authority to satisfy their own interests. PURPOSE For my research paper to be submitted by the start of January, I propose to discuss the ways by which Lebanese political figures take illegal benefits of the authority their people have given them, and to illustrate some consequences of these acts. In general, authority is the power a person has, either because of his official position or because people respect his knowledge or experience (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 73). As a matter of fact, even though the converse is true, “no authority can exist without power” (The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science, “authority”). In terms of political affairs, the sources of authority can vary between the free will of the people and the enforced, dictatorial will of the authoritative person himself. Regardless of the source of this authority, most politicians become so sight-blinded by the power associated with it that they forget why they are in authority in the first place; their ultimate goal shifts from serving the welfare of their country and its people to becoming an obsession to keep and preserve their chair or throne, the symbols for their power. And if we take a closer look into the records of rulers and leaders of the Arab world, especially those in Lebanon, we will find them filled with such illegal trespasses. These violations to the laws vary in fields and in forms, ranging from crossing a traffic light, all the way long through using “wasta”, the act by which services are better served to people well-known by the politicians, especially in hiring at public departments or centers, till eventually, in extreme cases of course, committing monstrous crimes. As a result, the equilibrium of the country becomes more disturbed, in which there is unfairness and inequality in benefiting from the chances this life offers. PROBLEMS TO BE INVESTIGATED At this early stage of my research, I believe my paper most probably aims at answering these questions: 1. Why are politicians worldwide given special power and authority, and who supplies this authority to them? 2. What forms of legal boundaries do Lebanese politicians, shielding with their authority, cross in order to satisfy their personal life demands? 3. What are the consequences of such acts on the wellbeing of each of the Lebanese people, Lebanon’s resources, and Lebanon’s financial budget? 4. How would we, as Lebanese citizens living under Lebanon’s roof and witnessing those trespasses before our very eyes, evaluate the acts of such politicians; i.e., do they have the right to do so? Hence, I propose to divide the body of the research into four major parts depending on the four key issues of sources of authority, forms of authority misuse, consequences, and evaluation. METHODS OF RESEARCH I will rely partly on few articles related to the topics of authority. And because not much research was done about Lebanon in this domain, I am willing to rely heavily on primary sources rather than just literature in AUB databases. For instance, I am looking forward to perform a survey on AUB students via questionnaires on campus or via email to a sample of AUB students. The size of this sample is yet to be determined (between 30 and 150, according to what you think is better). Also, I intend to perform an interview with a professor in the political science department, the name of whom will be specified later on in my research paper: So basically, I find that the following online secondary sources are most useful so far for my research: Walter, James. "Political Leadership." Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Ritzer, George (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Blackwell Reference Online. 28 October 2010 <http://www.sociologyencyclopedia.com/subscriber/tocnode? id=g9781405124331_chunk_g978140512433197_ss1-37> "authority." The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. Credo Reference. Web. 27 October 2010 Coatney, Sharon. "From where does your authority come?" Teacher Librarian 33.3 (2006): 58. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. <http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC- Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=A142480447&source=gale&srcprod=EAIM&userGroupNa me=aub&version=1.0> Biber, Douglas, et al. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 3rd ed., Longman Dictionaries, 1995. SCHEDULE: By the 25th of November, I would have been done with the research outline and introduction, as you specified. Up until then, I would be working on my questionnaire, and would perform the interview even before that date. The final paper will be submitted after the inter-semester vacation on the 4th of January. Of course, the outline, introduction, and final project will be all submitted both in hand as a hard copy and to Turnitin, via Moodle. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL: I ask that you approve my topic and my approach to it. I would appreciate any suggestions on how you think I might best proceed. My email is imi02@aub.edu.lb, in case you prefer to send them that way.