Ranking the presidential spouses

Numerous polls have offered rankings of the presidents but little effort has been made to rate the performance of the president's spouse. Not only has there been far less academic attention devoted to the first ladies, but there are difficulties inherent in assessing this “office” that presidential scholars need not worry about when ranking the commanders-in-chief. Yet, the first lady has emerged as a political “institution” worthy of scholarly attention, including an attempt at ranking them. This article provides the results of a poll ranking the first ladies, along with an analysis of the rankings between activist and traditionalist first ladies, first ladies of different historical periods, and between the presidents and their spouses.     

Mr. and Mrs. president? The rise and fall of the co-presidency

In the post-World War II era, the influence of first ladies has grown along with the prominence of the institution to the point where both scholars and journalists speak of the existence of a “co-presidency.” However, the various political roles assumed by the presidential spouses present great risks for both the first lady and the president.     

Breaking out of the circle: an analysis of the gendered communication behaviors of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Netanyahu

Among the many challenges first ladies face are a variety of sex-role stereotypes. These sex-role constraints impact the office from such sources as the press and public. This article assesses these stereotypes and the prevalence of other cultural expectations on the first ladyships of the United States and Israel by comparing the experiences of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Netanyahu.     

难以摆脱的羁绊--从《红楼梦》贵族少妇形象看作家对儒家传统妇德观的认同

作为中国几千年传统文化、主要是儒家文化孕育出的伟大作家 ,曹雪芹不可能脱离其文化土壤 ,必然受到传统思想和文化习俗的制约。这样在《红楼梦》人物形象的塑造、特别是贵族少妇形象的塑造上 ,就呈现出对儒家传统妇德观的承传情况。具体地说 ,这些贵族少妇在事夫之德、去妒之德、守节之德等方面 ,自觉不自觉地表现出对儒家传统妇德观念的恪守与张扬 ,对此 ,作家多给予了不同程度的肯定     

NIMBY opposition and solid waste incinerator siting in democratizing Taiwan

To address Taiwan's waste crisis, the Taiwanese government has embraced incinerators as a major policy instrument for waste disposal. Although the adoption of waste burning policy was not debated much, the siting of incinerators has been vigorously opposed by community-based protest movements, emerged with Taiwan's transition to democracy. In response, both the Kuomintang (KMT) government and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government have used compensation to induce the acceptance of local hosting communities as in other countries. Nevertheless, the use of compensation has never been effective in resolving not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) conflict without mobilizing local political and government support to suppress NIMBY protests in order to enforce the timely construction of needed incinerators. To accommodate the rising democratic expectation of public participation in deliberations over the incineration waste policy, this article also argues that the role of citizen participation must be addressed to increase public support for incinerator option in managing Taiwan's waste.     

The Nature of the Political Reconsidered

I present an immanent, and explanatory, critique of reflections on the nature of politics and of power within political science. I argue that these reflections are problematic, to the extent that they presuppose an actualist conception of the political, and that this is generated by an empiricist way of thinking on the one hand and a constructivist way of thinking on the other. I show how re‐defining politics, power, and the political on the basis of a dialectical critical realist ontology resolves these problems and, thereby, allows us to understand the conditions for social change and the relationship between the political and the economic. My argument has two, important implications: first, that the proposal that those who study politics professionally should celebrate philosophical diversity is dangerous–at least if it makes it difficult to sustain a distinct, emancipatory form of political inquiry; and, second, that the nature of social reality justifies the need both for specialized forms of inquiry, such as politics and economics, and integrative forms of inquiry, such as political economy.     

加快科技奥运建设,促进首都实现跨越式发展

科技奥运是中国申奥成功的重要理念 ,也将成为北京举办奥运会的重要保障条件。加快科技奥运建设对于实现奥运承诺 ,促进首都乃至全国经济、科技的发展都具有深远的意义。“以科技助奥运 ,以奥运促科技”是科技奥运建设的重要内容。本文从科技奥运提出的背景、含义、建设目标、主要任务、实施一年多来取得的进展等方面进行了比较全面的描述。     

A changing democracy: contemporary challenges to the British political tradition

A series of authors including ourselves have argued that there is a dominant, if contested, political tradition (the BPT), that is a particular conception of democracy, that underpins to institutions and processes of British politics. However, here we argue that the BPT has never been more contested or vulnerable, focusing upon three contemporary challenges, the Scottish question, the rise of anti-politics and the demands to leave the European Union (EU), culminating in BREXIT, although we recognise there are others. At the same time, we contend that the BPT still plays a key role in how the political elite reacts to these challenges; its first response remains to preserve as much of the BPT as possible in changing circumstances. As such, the key question we address here is whether we are witnessing the beginnings of a fundamental shift in the nature of British political democracy, or whether, as so often before, the BPT and its adherents will adapt to, and accommodate, these challenges.     

The Political and Economic Impact on the Development of Social Group Work in Taiwan

This article uses a political-economic lens to clarify the development of social group work in Taiwan. During the past 50 years, Taiwan has experienced a great economic and political transition. This article focuses on three different periods of time. Under the political repression of the 1950s and 1960s group activities were a means of social control. In the 1970s economic development evoked social changes that led to relaxed controls over civil organizations and political freedom. Community development and “Americanized” social work education marked the first step for social work with groups. During that period group work in Taiwan placed more emphasis on individual problems. In the 1980s political change brought the expansion of group work in Taiwan. An open political scene and flourishing social movements gave impetus to extension of various forms of group work in all kinds of situations. In particular social action and self-help groups played a critical role in the growth of the interests of people.     

再论清代皇室之乳保

清代皇室乳母、保母属宫廷仆妇群体，是宫廷女性的重要组成部分。从性别视角再研究清代皇室之乳保，详细辨析乳母、保母称谓及职责的不同；阐释了皇室乳保与皇子女之间存在的稳固的亲情关系和伦理关系，以及由此形成的乳保群体在宫廷中身份地位的特殊性。她们充分利用这种特殊身份，突破自身的性别和阶级局限，提升其在家庭中的地位，发展起以女性为核心的家族体系。在为自己家族带来“特权”的同时，乳保群体也对清代皇族的家事和国事产生一定影响。     

徐志摩婚恋悲剧浅析

徐志摩和林徽因、陆小曼、张幼仪的爱情婚恋故事说明,从爱情到婚姻的幸福与美满,都要受社会环境的限制和制约。特别是在"五四"时期,根深蒂固的封建传统意识仍左右着人们的行为,个性的自由和对美好爱情的向往,在那个时代里只能成为泡影。     

村民自治与国家政权建设

2 0世纪初以来 ,国家政权建设就是我国现代化的一项主要内容。在前半个世纪 ,由于不能消除赢利型经纪体制 ,各种国家政权试图进入乡村社会的努力都避免不了失败的命运。新政权成立以后 ,国家通过人民公社体制将国家政权直接深入到乡村社会之中 ,实现了政治的一体化 ,虽然摧毁了旧的经纪体制 ,但也毁坏了乡村社会传统的“权力的文化网络”。村民自治则是国家政权在乡村社会重建的一种方式 ,通过它国家实现了对乡村社会的有效治理和整合。     

后汉“党锢之祸”起因新探

“党锢之祸”是东汉末年发生的重大政治事件。从某种程度而言,党锢事件影响了之后的历史走向,魏晋南北朝的士人气象亦由此而定。因而“党锢之祸”成因的研究对于深入了解后汉末年的政治史颇具意义。而且,党锢事件的爆发并非由宦官一手促成,士大夫阶层本身亦有问题。“党锢之祸”主要由以下三个方面造成：一是东汉皇权与地方士族的冲突;二是宦官集团对党人集团利益的侵犯;三是党人“错误”的政治理念。     

Dutch Women are Liberated, Migrant Women are a Problem: The Evolution of Policy Frames on Gender and Migration in the Netherlands, 1995–2005

Over the past decade, there has been a major shift in Dutch gender equality policy to an almost exclusive focus on migrant women. Simultaneously, the focus of ‘minority policies’ has shifted more and more towards gender relations. The appearance of migrant women at the top of the political agenda is remarkable. In this article we examine how this construction of migrant women as a political problem has come about, and consider its implications. As we argue, the dominant policy frames of emancipation and individual responsibility are reinforcing a dichotomy between the autochthonous ‘us’ and the allochthonous ‘them’. As the problem is increasingly defined as a cultural one, it is implicitly stated that there is no problem with the dominant culture and society. Barriers for participation are exclusively located in the migrant (Muslim) culture. In this view, Muslim migrants should first change their culture before they can fully integrate in Dutch society.     

Social Security in Hungary: A Balance Sheet after Twelve Years

The social and political transformation in Hungary contributed to the development of a democratic political system and to the establishment of the rule of law and a market economy. The process was accompanied by a series of economic and social problems. The paper first reviews the social policy orientation of the three free consecutive governments elected since the transition. None of them has had a clear political profile: they have constituted mixed and unclear welfare regimes. None of them has sketched a clear welfare policy except perhaps the current government. In its case central redistribution is consistently biased in favour of the middle and upper strata at the expense of the poor. Instead of a consensual plan defining priorities, decisions and reforms in the last ten years have been motivated by political interests, at hoc ideas, and authoritarian rulings. The paper next shows what reform meant in the case of the different instruments and various fields of social policy, namely unemployment, health, pensions, family benefits and social assistance. It concludes that while both the inherited and the newly created systems had contributed to alleviate the shocks of the transition, yet there never was enough political will to give sufficient or adequate help to those needing it. As a consequence of the "reforms" public expenditures have been significantly reduced. The welfare gap between East and West has thereby grown. The consequence is that the country has become gravely divided, and that poverty is greater and deeper than it might have been under a different set of policies.     

Party Organization and the Political Success of the Communist Successor Parties

Objective . Although there has been much recent work done on party systems in the postcommunist world, there has been very little systematic comparative work that examines the relationship between the organizational development of political parties and political performance. The objective of this article is to empirically examine the relationship between party organization and the political success of 17 communist successor parties from 1993 to 2000. Methods . I propose a way of measuring party organizations based upon the degree of personnel overlap between the organs of the extraparliamentary party and the party in public office and the organizational density of political parties and relate these characteristics to the political success enjoyed by the communist successor parties. Results . In general, I find that the more the successor party was dominated by officeholders and less reliant on a mass membership for political support in the years immediately following the transition, the more successful the party was later. Conclusions . The interaction of party organization with the party's competitive environment was a better predictor of success than declines in the socioeconomic condition of the population, rises in popular "nostalgia" for the past, or openings created by political institutions.     

Management of HIV/AIDS in the Australian federal system

The purpose of this article is to analyse the effect of the federal structure on public health policy in a crisis situation. Federalism has been one of the most important features of the Australian political system shaping AIDS policy because it has created problems with the coordination of policies and has limited the Commonwealth's capacity to introduce a coherent national monitoring, education, protection, testing and legal framework. My main point is that in the situation of crisis, there is a tendency to rely on the political will of the centre. The political will of the federal health department, subsumed by conflicts and difficulties, has not lasted long enough to construct a new, more uniform structure (a uniform surveillance, legal and health acts framework). It can be concluded that while political intervention and political will cannot be overestimated as means of overcoming organizational rigidities in an emergency situation, the need for a framework conducive to rapid and coordinated responses is obvious. The lesson from the AIDS epidemic points to the need for more uniform public health legislation, for more uniform system of recording data on HIV and for more uniform civil liberties legislation.     

邓小平与当代中国知识分子社会属性的认识研究

建国以来的国家经济政治发展的曲折历史证明,知识分子社会属性的认识是关系国家盛衰的重大问题。邓小平总结了建国以来的经验教训,继承发展了马克思主义关于资本主义社会脑力劳动者的思想,提出了知识分子的阶级属性是工人阶级;在政治地位上知识分子是科学技术第一生产力的先进开拓者,担负着重大的历史责任;知识分子的绝大部分世界现是无产阶级的世界观,其世界观改造的性质同工人阶级和劳动人民内部的自我教育和自我改造是基本相同的;在政治上对知识分子要求要适当,不能苛求。     

The demand for advice at the European Union level: policy advice politicization in the European Commission

ABSTRACT

The study focuses on the role of policy advice brokers – political advisors – pertaining to the issue of politicization in the European Commission (EC). The study conceptualizes politicization as increased use of political advisors – known as “cabinets” in the EC context – by the Commissioners to ensure political direction over the work of the civil service. Commissioners’ private cabinets fulfil several functions, one of which is political steering of the policy work in the departments. The study argues that as a result of the NPM-style reform and strengthening of the civil service accountability to the political level, the political steering function of the cabinet advisors grew in importance. To examine whether the political steering function of cabinets became more important after the reform, the study analyzed the lists of cabinets’ responsibilities available online from the Prodi to the Junker Commissions. The content of the lists of responsibilities was first coded and then statistically analyzed testing for the effect of the reform on the structure of cabinets’ responsibilities.     

政治冷漠的表象与隐忧——基于广东高校青年教师的政治态度调查

政治冷漠是古今中外都广泛存在的现象，在当今国际社会也十分普遍。高校青年教师群体中存在广泛的政治冷漠现象，但中国社会存在的政治冷漠现象有着自己鲜明的政治文化特点。政治冷漠具有一定的合理性，知识精英在政治参与中承担着特殊的责任和义务。但合理表象之下，政治冷漠有着加剧社会碎片化、削弱公共领域和纵容专制主义等深层次的隐忧。