Radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state? Contrasting the United Kingdom and the Netherlands with Norway

In many countries, new, broad, and normative “conceptions of society” gained prominence that represent fundamentally different discursive alternatives to the classical welfare state. We present two political projects that contain radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state, the “Big Society” in Britain and the “Participation Society” in the Netherlands, and contrast these with Norwegian developments, where no such a radical alternative conceptualization of the welfare state can be found. We show that the British and Dutch political projects were attempts to replace the welfare state, whereas there is no comparable big idea about a radical overhaul of the welfare state in Norway. Our analysis contributes to a better understanding of a fundamental shift in welfare state reform, namely a radical reconsidering of the ideational and normative foundation that defines and underpins what the welfare state is or should be.     

Comparing ‘deep’ insider knowledge: developing analytical strategies for cross-national qualitative studies

ABSTRACT

One overarching question in scholarly methodological discussions on qualitative comparative approaches concerns how it is possible to compare and generalise deep insider knowledge across (nationally) specific contexts. The aim of this article is to propose a research strategy that both facilitates the comparison and theorisation of such knowledge across nations and limits the risks of reproducing naturalised national ‘truths’. The strategy is developed within a feminist, cross-national, qualitative comparative analysis of how European countries addressed military deaths in connection with the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The article underlines the importance of collective analytical work and of strategies that allow continuous movement between insider and outsider positions throughout the research process. A number of analytical strategies are presented: collective project design, alternating between analytical closeness and distance, and de-familiarising writing practices.     

National Culture on the Cross-National Variation of Homicide: An Empirical Application of the Inglehart–Welzel Cultural Map

Although there has been a growing literature on the effects of culture on the cross-national variation of homicide, this literature remains limited in the operationalization of national culture as well as in the modeling of the cultural effects. Adopting a multidimensional measure of national culture developed in the World Values Survey, this study examines the effects of various aspects of national culture, as well as their interaction, on the cross-national variation of homicide. The findings of this study provide evidence for the effect of national culture on homicide variation across countries while painting a more complex picture about the potential mechanisms of these effects.     

民国时期汉语语文辞书词性标注研究——以《王云五大辞典》为例

民国时期为我国汉语语文辞书古今转型的关键时期,《王云五大辞典》是该时期第一部采用现代汉语语法体系为字词标注词性的白话词典,本文对《王云五大辞典》的词类划分依据和词性标注特点进行了较为系统的剖析,并与其他代表性辞书的词性标注加以对比,总结《王云五大辞典》在词性标注理念的时代创新性,也指出其字词词性标注中存在的不足,供当前的辞书编纂参考借鉴。     

浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言的声母比较

卫所制度是明清时期重要的军政制度。以浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言为考察对象，从北到南选取了最有代表性的16个方言点，通过共时和历时的比较，分析和总结浙江沿海明清卫所驻地方言声母在数量和古今分合上的特点。     

A cross-cultural study on surrogate mother's empathy and maternal–foetal attachment

BackgroundTraditional and gestational surrogate mothers assist infertile couples by carrying their children. In 2005, a meta-analysis on surrogacy was conducted but no study had examined empathy and maternal–foetal attachment of surrogate mothers. Assessments of surrogate mothers show no sign of psychopathology, but one study showed differences on several MMPI-2 scales compared to a normative sample: surrogate mothers identified with stereotypically masculine traits such as assertiveness and competition. They had a higher self-esteem and lower levels of anxiety and depression.Research objectiveTo determine if there is a difference in empathy and maternal–foetal attachment of surrogate mothers compared to a comparison group of mothers.MethodsThree groups of European traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n = 10), Anglo-Saxon traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n = 34) and a European normative sample of mothers (n = 32) completed four published psychometric instruments: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (empathy index), the Hospital Anxiety and Depressions Scale and the MC20, a social desirability scale. Pregnant surrogate mothers filled the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (n = 11). Statistical non-parametric analyses of variance were conducted.FindingsDepending on cultural background, surrogate mothers present differences in terms of empathy, anxiety and depression, social desirability and quality of attachment to the foetus compared to a normative sample.ConclusionsEnvironment plays a role for traditional and gestational surrogacy. Surrogate mothers of both groups are less anxious and depressed than normative samples. Maternal–foetal attachment is strong with a slightly lower quality of attachment. Surrogate mother's empathy indexes are similar to normative samples, sometimes higher.     

Likelihood ratio order of parallel systems under multiple-outlier models

This paper studies the likelihood ratio ordering of parallel systems under multiple-outlier models. We introduce a partial order, the so-called θ-order, and show that the θ-order between the parameter vectors of the parallel systems implies the likelihood ratio order between the systems.     

社会比较、时间比较对老年人主观幸福感的影响研究

基于2015年中国综合社会调查数据,采用标准有序Logistic模型,检验分析了比较对老年人主观幸福的影响。研究发现:主观幸福感是一个比较的概念,其关键在于比较,社会比较和时间比较对老年人主观幸福感具有显著正向影响;对比效应是解释老年人主观幸福感的心理机制;时间比较对不同老年人主观幸福感的影响存在异质性,心理不健康、多子女、家庭经济地位高、文化程度低的老年人的主观幸福感影响更大;生活保障、社会公平等宏观制度因素对老年人主观幸福影响显著。据此提出,推进老年人继续教育、再就业等工作,提升老年人的获得感;加大民生建设,丰富老年人精神文化生活;通过政策倾斜与人文关怀重点关注弱势老年人群体;重点推进生活保障、社会公平等宏观制度建设。     

城乡结合部老旧社区的嵌入式治理

基于城乡结合部老旧社区治理的嵌入性特征,将嵌入性理论视角与存量规划新常态下老旧社区的治理创新诉求相关联,从理论和实践双重维度研究阐述城乡结合部老旧社区嵌入式治理的生成背景、行动策略与创新路径。现阶段,多元治理主体在助力城乡结合部老旧社区治理与改造过程中,为满足老旧社区基础性改造需求、超越传统治理的行政化倾向、实现内源性发展目标,业已形成资源型嵌入、功能型嵌入和融合型嵌入三种行动策略,但受复杂的治理情境和滞后的治理后管理机制的影响易面临适应性挑战。应通过激发社区居民主体能动性、推进社会资本再组织化、完善治理后管理机制等具体路径,推进城乡结合部老旧社区嵌入式治理的可持续发展。     

税收政策支持养老服务业发展的国际比较及启示

在《关于推进养老服务发展的意见》中,国务院强调了政府对养老服务发展的支持。在此背景下,政府如何以税收政策支持本国养老服务的发展？是降低企业所得税、个人所得税及相关税种税率,还是根据我国现代税收制度和现实国情搭建有效的养老税收政策体系呢？文章分析了三个具有代表性的国家、地区的养老服务业的发展状况,各国养老税收政策演进与变迁的路径及其内容与特点,进而提出了我国近期养老税收政策的方向。