简谈民主

在一部分人的心目中,民主的含义似乎是绝对的自由,而自由则是完全的无拘无束。这至少是一种幼稚的误解,或者是一种思想混乱的表现。有些人提出的所谓“还我民主”、“我们要自由”等口号,即明显地表露了这种幼稚与混乱。实际上,民主至少包含着相互联系的三方面意义,即民主是一种国家形式;民主意味着平等,民主意味着公民权利与义务的统一。作为一种国家形式的民主,其基本意义是“人民的政府,尤其是指多数人的统治”     

试论民主的实质与民主的形式

民主这个词,最早产生于古代希腊社会,它的本意是指“人民的权力”。但是,什么是“人民”,什么是“权力”,历来各个阶级的思想家、政治家说法不一。只有马克思主义经典作家,才赋予民主这个概念以科学定义。列宁说过:“民主是一种国家形式,一种国家形态。因此,它同任何国家一样,也是有组织有系统地对人们使用暴力,这是一方面。但另一方面,民主意味着在形式上承认公民一律平等,承认大家都有决定     

对社会主义民主与社会主义法治关系的再思考

中国共产党在总结新中国成立后30年（1950—1978）社会主义政治发展的经验时,得出了没有社会主义法制就没有社会主义民主的结论。在之后30年（1978--2008）的实践中,又证明了另一个结论同样也是正确的——没有社会主义民主也就没有社会主义法治。如果不能建立起人民群众对执政党进行监督的制度,社会主义法治的作用将是非常有限的,而社会主义法治的实现则是不可能的。     

"国家尊重和保障人权"规范的民主意义阐释

"国家尊重和保障人权"规范是作为宪法中的人权保障原则确立的。它的确立要求从民主的角度予以阐释。这不仅因为该规范本身就蕴涵着民主要求,而且该规范落实的过程归根到底就是人民依据宪法通过民主的方式组织国家权力保障人权的过程。不仅如此,该规范同时意味着人权获得保障的过程事实上就是民主获得促进的过程。同时,作为国家尊重和保障人权的重要机制,违宪审查制度也具有重要的民主意义。     

何为"主权民主"?

远不是所有的主权都会保证国家及其公民的发展,也不是任何民主都意味着国家的管理会顾及人民的利益. 最近半年饱受争议的"主权民主"一词代表的正是俄罗斯联邦的状态.它无论如何都不能被称为是一种新的意识形态,但它指出了经过15年政治体制改革后俄罗斯社会所形成的政治现状.     

有机的公共生活:从责任建构民主

现代民主的产生以国家与社会二元分化为前提,但其成长却有赖于两者之间的协调、平衡或合作,公共生活由此产生。所以,民主的成长,不仅需要制度建构,而且需要公共生活的建构。不同的民主形态形成不同的公共生活,可将其概括为三种:组织化的公共生活、私域性的公共生活和有机的公共生活。公共生活的每一次演进,都意味着民主体系的成长。战后,人类民主发展创造了与之相适应的有机的公共生活。有机的公共生活是社会与国家有机互动,共同创造的,而国家与社会恪守各自权利所形成的责任要求,是这种公共生活的基础。这体现了民主生活的另一种建构形式,即从责任建构民主。     

推进基层民主坚持民主执政

党的基层组织是党的全部工作和战斗力的基础,也是提高党的执政能力、巩固执政地位的基础.党的十六届四中全会<决定>指出:必须坚持科学执政、民主执政、依法执政,不断完善党的领导方式和执政方式.大力推进以民主选举、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督为主要内容的基层民主,从制度上和程序上坚持为人民执政、靠人民执政,支持和保证人民当家作主,是一条在推进基层民主中提高基层党组织民主执政能力的新路子.     

评《美国的异化与民主》

自1964年以来,美国人民对政府的信任不断下降.这种现象不是发生在某个特殊的阶层中,而是普遍存在着.新闻界的评论员已经充分注意到人民对美国社会政治制度的信任下降这一现象,并且拿出调查数据作为依据.这就产生了一个疑问:这种现象究竟说明了什么?一种论点认为,这种现象肯定会引起人们对民主政治制度的稳定性产生忧虑.因为政府只有得到人民高度一致的拥护,才能有效地行使职能.如果人民对我们的民主政治制度产生疏远之感(即产生异化),蛊惑民心的政客就会鼓动人民参加过激的和反民主的政治运动.根据这一观点,对民主政治制度疏远之感的加剧就意味着我们正坐在一个火山     

生活方式视角下民主的形成

一般人们所说的民主是一种政治制度,但是真正要实现民主还得在日常生活中形成才有牢固的根基。因此,可把民主看成一种生活方式,它代表着自由、平等、人权、法治、妥协等精神。根据人性论的观点,民主精神不是人们生来就有的,但民主可以通过环境的教育和影响来塑造、形成、发展、传承和提高。     

论中国特色社会主义民主政治的基本架构

政治文明是政治观念与政治的合理性及合法性的表现,是人类政治生活的进步状态.社会主义民主政治的表现形态就是坚持党的领导、人民当家作主和依法治国三者之间的有机统一.民主政治必须是一种法治化的有限民主,党的领导就是在法治化体系内依法执政,而依法治国就是依宪执政,实现党对国家和社会领导的制度化、法治化,从而在合法性视野里建构起中国特色社会主义民主政治的基本构架.     

Considering Improvisation: Play,Transitional Space,and Discovery

This article explores the concept of improvisation in the therapeutic setting as a complex construction when elaborated in the idiom of jazz music. A composite clinical case is offered that illustrates an impasse and how improvisational thinking offers a way forward. Improvisation has recently been conceptualized through the metaphor of theater improvisation, dance, and rhythm. The therapeutic hour is considered an improvisational dialogue with the main theme (melody) and counter melodies, and harmonic possibilities that underlie the rhythmic pulse of the hour. Improvisation requires a reflective/interpretive process that draws on patterns, structures, and experiences reformulated in the relational field of the participants. The client initiates the call and response pattern, from which improvisation emerges as a mutual process of discovery. A more relaxed, receptive, and reflective posture extends Winnicott’s 1971 notion of play to integrate classic understanding and relational interaction.     

Objective Tests versus Subjective tests

objective test has only one correct answer, while subjective test has a range of possible answers. Because of this feature, reliability will not be difficult to achieve in the marking of the objective item, while the marking of the subjective items is reliable. On the whole, a good test must contain both subjective and objective test items.     

循环经济与可持续发展刍议

发展循环经济已经成为当今世界的潮流和趋势,循环经济将经济活动组织成为"资源-产品-消费-再生资源"的物质反复循环的闭环式流程,从上世纪90年代确定可持续发展战略以来,发达国家正在把发展循环经济、建立循环型社会看作是实施可持续发展战略的重要途径和实现方式.循环经济是集经济、技术、社会于一体的系统工程,其启动和推广不仅需要政府、企业、科学界和公众等社会各界的不懈努力和共同参与,而且需要资金、技术以及法规、制度等软硬环境的强力支撑.     

Feminist Criticism in The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great book. Through feminist criticism we can get how The Scarlet Letter may be read as dramatizing Hester Prynne's spiritual and physical struggle to survive as an individual in a society whose values authorize the privileged power of men.     

Abstracts of theses: Smith College School for Social Work,July 1954

Abstract

Many clients relate in ways that elicit emotional responses in practitioners and may also feel pressure to intervene when appropriate action is not yet clear. Practitioners must develop sufficient self-awareness so their own reactions do not interfere with the work they do with clients. Educators exhort their students to be self-aware, but locating methods that foster the capacity can be difficult. Infant observation is an elegant training model that helps to develop self-awareness. The method described here makes use of regular observation, supportive small groups, and repeated detailed examination of what is seen in training both generalist and specialized practitioners. It has become a prototype for the observational study of several kinds of specific populations. Because it attends to people in their own environments and demonstrates a flexible, reflective, multi-modal manner of information-gathering, infant observation is particularly useful in the education of social work practitioners.     

The gender gap in pensions in Latin America

Lower female lifetime labour market participation rates, greater interruptions during their working lives, and wage gaps contribute to create gender gaps in pensions at the time of retirement. The design of social security systems may reinforce or attenuate these gaps. This article provides new evidence on gender gaps in access to pensions and in pension income in four Southern Cone countries in Latin America and analyses their evolution between 2000 and 2013, showing significant improvements in both gaps, with differential patterns by countries. The decrease in the gender gap in pension income has been particularly significant in Argentina and Brazil. In both cases, the largest increases in pension values during the period correspond to the lowest income percentiles, where women are overrepresented. The application of redistributive policies in these countries, aimed at reducing poverty and inequality but not necessarily focused on gender equity, has had positive and probably unintended consequences in terms of reduction in gender gaps in pensions.     

India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act: Assessing the quality of access and adequacy of benefits in MGNREGS public works

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle‐ and low‐income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights‐based entitlements, demand‐driven employment, and citizen‐centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South‐South learning, both in terms of policy‐design and implementation.     

From “Either‐Or” to “When and How”: A Context‐Dependent Model of Culture in Action

In this article, I outline a framework for the sociological study of culture that connects three intertwined elements of human culture (cultural motivations, resources, and meanings) and demonstrates the concrete contexts under which each most critically influences actions and their subsequent outcomes. In contrast to models that cast motivations, resources, and meanings as competing explanations of how culture affects action, I argue that these are fundamental constituent elements of culture that are inseparable, interdependent, and simultaneously operative. Which element provides the strongest link to action, and how this link operates, must be understood as a function of the actor's position within wider social contexts. I argue that on average motivations have the most discernable link to action within a social strata, cultural resources provide the strongest link across strata, and meanings have the greatest direct influence when codified and sanctioned. I then offer a reframing and synthesis that reintegrates previously “competing” theories of culture into a more holistic context‐dependent model of culture in action. Finally, I use evidence from prior empirical research, as well as new data from an ongoing ethnographic study of health behaviors among the aged, to show how various elements of culture are concretely linked to action in eight different social contexts. In doing so, I provide a roadmap for the transition out of the “either‐or” logic underlying much of cultural theory and reemphasize the importance of the classical sociological concern for “when” and “how” various aspects of culture influence action and outcomes in concrete social contexts.     

Is subsidiarity a conditio sine qua non for sustainability?

This paper argues that subsidiarity is a condicio sine qua non for sustainability. Through the complexity paradigm, the paper provides a historical reconstruction of both concepts to the end of elucidating their interdependence. The main thesis is that subsidiarity to sustainability is what self-organisation is to emergence. The paper ends with a sketch of future global governance structures based on a subsidiarity where cities take the lead on sustainability.