责任政府及其公务员职责

"主权在民"思想和代议民主制的产生促进了责任政府的产生。在责任政府建立过程中,各国逐步确立起政府及其公务员对人民承担责任的责任体系。责任政府中公务员的职责应包括作为善良管理人所应具有的两大方面,即要履行注意和忠诚的义务。     

社区治理：公民社会的微观基础

本文试图通过一种分析视角,在一定程度上显示中国城市基层社区中公民社会的微观基础,以及这种微观基础与“社区共治”及社区“治理结构”之间的微妙联系,同时也提醒读者在深刻揭示这种微妙联系时必须把研究视角聚焦到具体行动空间的权力关系及协调机制。     

十年内战时期第三方媒介眼中的中共面相

国共十年内战时期，民办大报关于中共的报道颇有“暧昧”意味：一方面追随国民党鼓吹剿共，并造谣侮辱中共，另一方面却又在一定程度上维护中共形象。这种摇摆不定的舆论态势主要基于其对时势的认识，以及自身商业机制运转使然。然而站在中共的立场上，即便有维护中共形象的个案的出现，但大批量的攻击中共文章的出笼，影响颇大。     

社会日常监控:口供制度的变迁动力

口供制度从传统社会到现代社会的变迁 ,是诉讼民主和文明的表现 ,也是社会道德力量推动的结果 ,但更离不开社会日常监控的强化。中国社会日常监控的薄弱造成了刑事司法对口供的较大依赖性 ,以至违法收集口供的现象久禁不止 ,因此 ,改变日常监控状况是实现收集口供法治化的根本出路。     

Transnational community enterprises for social welfare in global civil society

Considerable attention has been devoted thus far to transnational economic and political enterprises in globalisation. This article focuses on the phenomenon of social globalisation. Specifically, we call attention to the need for research and development on transnational enterprises to support and maintain individuals and families that are members of transnational communities in the USA and Mexico. The social fallout of transmigration on the health and social wellbeing of sending and receiving communities is enormous and costly, and far beyond the capacity of transmigrants to handle merely through self-help, mutual aid or small voluntary clubs and associations. This article raises questions about whether it is possible, or desirable, for civil society organisations to expand the scope of their vision to include social welfare activities that promote and enhance the health and social wellbeing of host and home communities simultaneously.     

Religion and relief: the role of religion in mobilizing civil society against global poverty

Abstract

Although global poverty is one of the world's most pressing contemporary problems, there is a lack of political will to address it, and much of the work is left to non-governmental organizations (NGOs)-many of which have religious connections. However, religion's role in this area is surprisingly understudied. In attempting to fill the gap, this study explores what makes religion effective in mobilizing civil society actors to engage in transnational poverty relief and development. The paper examines the salience of religious actors in the field, before developing a theoretical framework to explain this prevalence, employing sociologically based theories of religious social capital, content, and cultural power. Finally, these issues are investigated practically through case studies of two religious NGOs, World Vision New Zealand (WVNZ) and TEAR Fund New Zealand. The findings corroborate the theoretical framework, demonstrating the considerable potential of religion to mobilize civil society in the fight against global poverty.     

The impact of social heterogeneity and commodity price shocks on civil conflicts

Do exogenous economic shocks promote civil conflicts directly? Do they affect all the societies alike? The current approach presents a large sample panel data evidence not only on the effect of commodity export price shocks on conflict incidence, rather than onsets, but also on the joint impact of both ethnic and religious polarization and fractionalization on political instability. In this regard, we find out that in ethnically polarized societies, the commodity export price shocks increase violence. Nonetheless, in ethnically and religiously fractionalized societies (as well as religiously polarized), the effect of commodity export price shocks on civil conflicts depends on the type of income shocks and category of commodity. These findings contribute to the existing literature by illuminating the compound effect of both income shocks and social diversity on intrastate conflicts.     

改革开放以来的中国民法

改革开放以来，中国民法在价值与体系方面均取得进步，具体表现为人的私法主体地位的逐步确立、私法自治基石性地位的奠定、私人利益与私人权利得以确立并获确实保障、民法的科学性得到长足发展等。不过，现行民法在形式理性化的程度上仍有改进的空间。对中国社会而言，坚持民法的自主性、形式化、理性化发展方向具有特别重要的意义。同时，也必须通过保持民法一定程度的开放性来克服形式理性法的某些内在缺陷。     

Economic globalization and violent civil conflict: Is openness a pathway to peace?

There has been little systematic assessment of the impact of globalization on armed conflict within states. Drawing from bargaining theories of conflict, we posit that the global marketplace functions as an “audience” that rewards or punishes the policy choices of states. Globalization, which connotes an increased exposure to this marketplace, increases the relevance of the “costs” that this “audience” may impose. These prospective costs thus encourage peace and stability, as states that are integrated into the global economy have more to lose by instigating and sustaining violent conflict within their borders. Employing a two-stage Heckman Model, we assess the impact of various facets of globalization, including access to information, trade, foreign investment and aid flows, on intrastate conflict within the developing countries for 1990–1996.     

Making sense of nuclear war: narratives of voluntary civil defence and the memory of Britain’s Cold War

In interviews with members of Britain’s Civil Defence Services, experiences of Cold War voluntarism are recalled in different ways. Some remembered their desire to help defend their nation and local community. Others remembered making a leisure choice that had little connection to the potential nuclear war the organization was ostensibly preparing for. No one provided a well-developed account of civil defence’s ability to provide a defence against the effects of a nuclear war. Popular memory theorists suggest cultural discourse limits the ability of individuals to narrate stories that do not align with culturally valued frameworks: in this case, dominant understandings of civil defence as at best ridiculous or at worst dangerous were established in the 1980s. This article argues that memories of civil defence voluntarism in the 1950-60s have been shaped by these discourses, but that individuals were able to express the different meanings civil defence had in their lives in ways that provide a more nuanced and holistic picture of the intersections of leisure, service and sociability that made up civil defence. As such, it argues that oral history allows us to understand the various ‘horizons of possibility’ that made up individual experiences of the Cold War.     

Major arms imports and the onset of civil and ethnic wars in the postcolonial world, 1956–1998: A preliminary reassessment

This study examines the effects of states’ major arms imports from major powers on the likelihood of civil and ethnic wars in the postcolonial world. Focusing on civil and ethnic wars, respectively, in postcolonial states from 1956 through 1998, this investigation reveals that major arms imports from major powers have no statistically significant effect on either civil or ethnic war onset, considering political, economic, demographic, and geographic factors. The results also demonstrate that there are some different causal mechanisms between the onset of civil and ethnic wars. Finally, this article discusses policy implications and suggests some directions of the further research.     

Job satisfaction in Cascadia: A comparison of British Columbia,Oregon, and Washington civil servants

Canada and the USA share a common cultural source in the British Empire, yet within shared democratic traditions, very different political structures, policy processes, and values have been identified. Canada is seen as having a more deferential culture more supportive of government while Americans have been argued to be more individualistic and cynical about the role of government in society. Using a political culture framework, this study examines the degree to which Canadian and U.S. civil servants perceive societal respect for their public sector jobs, and the impact of those perceptions on individual job satisfaction. It is argued that if civil servants feel more valued by society, they are more likely to have higher levels of public service motivation, which then contributes to higher levels of individual job satisfaction. This study employs surveys of Oregon, Washington and British Columbian civil servants conducted in 2011 and 2012 to investigate this relationship. Findings suggest that British Columbian civil servants feel more valued by society when compared to Oregon and Washington civil servants, and these perceptions of positive societal support are associated with higher levels of individual job satisfaction.     

Global standards: promise and pitfalls for re‐inscribing social work into civil society1

This article critiques the modernist logical‐positivist ideology that has underscored social work, and interrogates the promise of the development of global standards to re‐inscribe social work into civil society at the global level. The potential pitfalls and dangers of such an initiative are also examined. The development of global standards was born out of an assumption that there is a common core to social work on a global level and on an essential affirmation of humanity and human dignity of all peoples across the world. Global standards might be construed to constitute a hegemonic Western discourse and a denial of context‐specific realities. However, a judicious, sensitive, post‐modernist and critical approach may enhance sensitivity towards difference and a greater appreciation of locally specific realities, within the global sphere.     

Putting experts in their place: Achieving policy impact as an outsider-academic in civil service reforms in Slovakia

This paper studies two processes of civil service reform in Slovakia during the period of 2014–2015 in order to reflect on the involvement of an ‘outsider-academic’ and her strategies to achieve policy impact. The context of such involvement are multi-level processes permeated by political interests and poor on evidence, which favour strategic interests, bargaining and political pressure and contestation (the mode of ‘powering’) and a mode of legal-based ‘puzzling’ as opposed to a conceptual, intellectual search for solutions friendly towards outside academics—and achieving only incremental results. We theorise on the success of these strategies (including helping serendipity, throwing ideas to see what sticks, mobilising allies, anchoring a non-binding concept, and finding and developing long-term connections) and sketch analogies and differences between the position of an outsider-academic and a policy entrepreneur. We rely on auto-ethnographic data and documentation of the work of the committees involved and their outputs.