新加坡地铁建设决策的过程与启示

新加坡政府在对建设地铁这样的大型基础设施做出决策时，采取了科学慎重的态度和方法，为其经济发展和社会稳定奠定了牢固的基础。本文讨论新加坡公共政策决策中的一个经典案例，即轨道交通系统的建设决策，以此引起大家的思考。     

Elite formation under occupation: the internal stratification of palestinian elites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

This paper examines the internal stratification of Palestinian elites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation. Our general aim is to clarify the extent to which social and political subordination to outside rule influences the development of indigenous elites in stateless societies. In contrast to nation-state societies, such elites may be horizontally stratified into a wider range of institutional settings, and vertically stratified by anti-occupation activism alongside the attainment of occupational prestige. In addition, context-specific determinants of their stratification patterns, such as refugee status, regionality, and country in which educational credentials were acquired, should be considered. A secondary content analysis of interviews conducted by the Palestinian Panorama centre with 249 elite members reveals, that the vertical stratification of Palestinian elites along occupational attainment and anti-occupation activism constitutes two quite independent status dimensions. A multinomial logit regression shows that, horizontally, elite groups are embedded in four distinct types of institutional activity, further demonstrating the multi-faceted formation of Palestinian elites. Contextual resources, such as refugee versus non-refugee status, regionality, and the acquiring of Western credentials, have differential effects on the vertical and horizontal stratification of Palestinian elites. The implications of these findings for further research on elite formation in the post-Oslo Palestinian society and in other stateless societies are discussed in conclusion.     

Determinants of Nonprofit Sector Density: A Stakeholder Approach

Why do nonprofit organizations exist? From an economic perspective, a number of major theories have been proposed to explain their existence. However, when exploring determinants of nonprofit sector density, one needs to take into account that demand and supply factors operate simultaneously and that it is difficult to separate them. By using a stakeholder approach, we develop a more integrative framework for understanding variations in nonprofit sector density. We test this framework by investigating determinants of nonprofit sector density in Texas at the county level.     

Ecologically unequal exchange: A theory of global environmental injustice

In this article, we review the theory of ecologically unequal exchange and its relevance for global environmental injustice. According to this theory, global political–economic factors, especially the structure of international trade, shape the unequal distribution of environmental harms and human development; wealthier and more powerful Global North nations have disproportionate access to both natural resources and sink capacity for waste in Global South nations. We discuss how the theory has roots in multiple perspectives on development, world‐systems analysis, environmental sociology, and ecological economics. We detail research that tests hypotheses derived from ecological unequal exchange theory on several environmental harms, including deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and water pollution as well as related human well‐being outcomes. We also discuss research on social forces that counter the harmful impacts of ecologically unequal exchange, including institutions, organizations, and environmental justice movements. We suggest that ecologically unequal exchange theory provides an important global political–economic approach for research in environmental sociology and other environmental social sciences as well as for sustainability studies more broadly.     

Resources management in India and China — an overview

India and China reached national sovereignty at the end of the 1940s. Since that time the two countries have made significant industrial progress and they have, relative to other Third World countries, a large number of well-educated people. However, the agricultural developments in India and China have been very different, though the two countries have a similar resources base. While the Chinese peasants, through hard work upon the rural land, have seen a substantial increase in their standard of living, the mass of Indian peasants are still living under severe circumstances and poverty. Furthermore, the rational management of land and water resources are much more advanced in China than in India. An important part of the difference in the agricultural and resources development of the two countries is related to the various guidelines of national economic performance and institutional settings. China has adopted a self-reliant basic-needs-oriented approach of national economic performance, which has given due attention to agricultural development and resources management. India has followed a Western-inspired liberal economic growth model of national economic performance, which has emphasised industrial development directed toward fastgrowing isolated economic enclaves within a basically subsistence economy. The cooperative ownership approach has improved resources management in China, whereas the small peasant/tenant approach in India has been unable to improve the resources management situation. The paper suggests that only a cooperative ownership approach towards land and water resources management will give any future prospect for an improvement in the standard of living for the mass of the people and the resources situation in India. Consequently, research activities in resources management ought to be directed towards cooperative solutions and experiences in India.     

Urban development strategy in an era of global competition: The case of south China

The economic structure of south China, including Hong Kong, has undergone rapid changes in the last 20 years. The transformation is more rapid in the wake of the opening up of China's economic system. This paper argues from the vantage point of the New International Division of Labour (NIDL) and investigates the impact of economic development and urban development strategies on the region. It reviews the process of economic development and the flows of resources, capital and labour forces in China as a whole, with special reference to Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. Increasing economic integration has led to interaction in the planning domain, such as in infrastructural development. Selected development strategies have also been employed and these will be discussed in detail. The paper concludes that future development between Hong Kong and south China will be a symbiotic one and that the implementation of a sustainable urban development strategy is vital to the continued growth of the region.     

Food Availability and Access in Lesser-Industrialized Societies: A Test and Interpretation of Neo-Malthusian and Technoecological Theories

Population pressure and human adaptation to food security demands through technology have been a dominant concern of researchers and policymakers alike in international development. This paper examines neo-Malthusian and technoecological determinants of food security in lesser-industrialized societies between 1970 and 1990 using an OLS regression of food security change. Findings reveal that population pressure and overurbanization concerns are indeed valid for food availability, having negative implications, while adaptive measures such as the application of fertilizer technologies, land-use intensification, infrastructural development, and the internationalization of food markets help balance these negative effects. Interestingly, such technological improvements operate net of increased food availability and economic growth. Thus, Green Revolution technologies and the internationalization of global food systems have confronted population pressure in the developing world. However, findings are less conclusive for food access, indicating that improvement in availability does not necessarily translate into meeting distribution needs, thus challenging the ability of these two theories to comprehensively explain the complexities of food security. Questions therefore remain with regard to future food security concerns.     

Mann,war, and cyberspace: dualities of infrastructural power in America

Not long after the completion of Michael Mann’s “quadrilogy” on The Sources of Social Power (1986–2012), social scientists began to interrogate the meaning of his concepts of “despotic” and “infrastructural” power. While we know that the former is the most evident sign of danger in times of war, less well understood is the role of infrastructural power in state/civil society relations. Most important is the ambiguous relationship between the two types of power and the possibility that—especially in times of war—infrastructural power can become the vehicle for despotic ends. But infrastructural power is also reciprocal, offering firms and civil society groups channels with which to contest the state’s projects. In this article, I first explicate the different meanings that Mann gave to his concept of infrastructural power. In the second section, I turn to how the concept has been “received” in political science and historical sociology. In the third part, I argue that the main danger to American democracy in wartime lies not in its becoming a despotic state, but in the use of the state’s infrastructural channels for the exercise of despotic ends. The fourth part illustrates the complexities of infrastructural power in business/government/civil society relations in cybersecurity, which Mann—for understandable reasons—did not examine in his encompassing work.     

SPECIAL EDUCATION OR RACIAL SEGREGATION: Understanding Variation in the Representation of Black Students in Educable Mentally Handicapped Programs

The disproportionate representation of black students in special education programs has been well documented, yet explanations for the overrepresentation are rare. Using a unique sample of U.S. public school districts (N = 981), this article examines the effects of local racial and political-economic structures, school district characteristics, and school desegregation politics on the representation of black students in educable mentally handicapped (EMH) programs. The findings demonstrate that a minority presence in the school district and economic resources and black political resources in the community as well as various dimensions of school desegregation politics are associated with the representation of black students in EMH programs. This research provides further evidence that racial differences in educational placement are related to structures of opportunity in school districts and the communities they serve and that the placement process should be the focus of continued study.     

The Indian Diaspora in Africa: The Commodification of Hindu Rashtra

A new approach to India’s diaspora has taken place within the wider context of the adoption, in 1991, of a neoliberal economic policy framework. In recent years, Indian private business enterprises have led the way in Africa and this has had an important impact on the state’s conceptualization of the diaspora. New Delhi’s elites actively seek to embrace an objectified ‘globalization’ as a means to benefit powerful externally oriented fractions and the diaspora’s value is measured in its contribution to this project. There has been a determined attempt to commodify the diaspora to serve particular Indian economic interests. However, the current government’s Hindu chauvinism makes the very question of what constitutes a genuine Indian rather narrow. Two factors thus dominate current policy: commodification and categorization. The diaspora in South Africa is discussed as an example where these dynamics can be acutely observed.     

MARGINALITY AND LIBERALISM AMONG JEWISH ELITES

Although much has been written about the Jewish proclivity towardliberalism, little has been written about elites who are Jewish.This article extensively compares American elites, both Jewishand non-Jewish, on a wide variety of social, economic, and politicalattitudes. Jewish elites are found to be consistently more liberalthan their non-Jewish counterparts on four different measuresof liberalism. We find small differences between religiouslyliberal and religiously conservative Jews. The differences betweenJewish and non-Jewish elites persisted after controlling fora number of background variables including current occupation.These results are explained as a result of Jewish socializationinto a tradition of marginality which has persisted despitechanging conditions. This conclusion is supported by showingthat parental ideology can partially predict respondents' ideologicalviews.     

An analysis of well-being in retirement: The role of pensions,health, and ‘voluntariness’ of retirement

This paper examines a wide range of determinants of retiree well-being of retirees. Using data from the 2000 Health and Retirement Study, increases in economic factors such as income lead to higher well-being, although relative income has a larger effect than absolute income. The strongest predictors are the voluntariness of entering retirement, pension characteristics, and health. Retirees “forced” to retire or have defined contribution pensions or bad health have significantly lower well-being. The results suggest a more nuanced approach in addressing retiree well-being than just a focus on the economic well-being of retirees.     

Ownership claims,valuation practices,and the unpacking of energy-landscape conflicts

There is now a substantive body of academic literature which focuses on protests against local infrastructural developments. This literature is often characterised by the key words ‘NIMBY’ or (facility-) ‘siting controversies’. The rapid development of renewable energy technologies – which are largely sited in rural areas – has created a new version of this controversy; energy-landscape conflicts. In many countries, large infrastructural developments are regulated through spatial planning legislation, often causing various tensions between new technologies, an evolving policy agenda, and a legislative framework which was largely conceived in a different era and which is slow to adapt. Alternatively, and in line with neo-liberal thinking, the logic of development can be subjected to cost-benefit analysis, whereby the value of the wind farm can be compared with the value of the ‘unspoiled’ landscape. This paper takes a more holistic approach to energy-landscape conflicts, by examining claims of ownership and notions and measures of value inherent in different claims and value systems which (seek to) influence decision-making. We examine both the logic of monetary valuation and the implicit value statements in various policy intervention options to point at the need for a more heterogeneous and multidisciplinary approach to policy evaluation. We then look at notions of ownership, rights and duties in relation to landscape and to our energy future, and we highlight the potential for using an analytical property rights framework which cuts across various levels of claims and value statements, from the national and ideological to the personal and practice-based.     

Gambling on casinos: A political economy of Australian developments

The proliferation of commercial casinos in Australia over the past decade has transfigured the face of Australian gambling. This paper examines the implications of the precarious relations that exist between casino operations and the regulatory structures established to control them. While Australian casinos share many of the general features and problems of casinos in the United States and Britain, the Australian approach to the selection and control of casinos and the types of corporate organizations licensed to operate casinos has been quite distinctive. The various State governments also have adopted distinctly regional responses based on different moral climates, political-economic calculations and market competition. However, in their haste to secure a share of the casino market, governments have welcomed the involvement of large corporations in Australian gambling. The power of these economic forces and changing environmental conditions present a challenge to the capacity of governments to determine gambling trends in the country.     

States,elites, and inequality in Latin America

In this article, I review the literature on elites and inequality in Latin America with a focus on the emergence of uneven state structures and how they came to foster the needs of elites for protection. States in Latin America are traditionally thought of as facilitating processes of top‐down modernization that transformed traditional agrarian economies into complex urban polities, while maintaining extreme inequality. The state is thus central in the genealogy of inequality and elite privilege in Latin America. The synergy between states and elites continues to mark Latin American societies, and it helps us to understand how major economic and political changes occur without significant changes in inequality. For the most part, Latin America's current uneven states emerged as the result of exclusionary projects of citizenship during the first half of the 20th century and were advanced by the advent of repressive regimes during the 1960s and 1970s. After democratic transitions during the 1980s and 1990s, Latin American states came to be characterized, on the one hand, by procedural democratic institutions and on the other, by high levels of state violence, exclusion, and segmented citizenship. The present situation is one of a problematic equilibrium between states, elites, and inequality.     

Main Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in the Southeast European Countries

The growth of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the world has been significant in recent years. Between 1990 and 2000 worldwide FDI inflows increased more than five times, and since 2000 they have declined. During the period of FDI expansion, growth was especially strong from 1997 onward. However, most of the FDI transactions were between the developed countries. The distribution of FDI is unequal and less-developing countries face difficulties in attracting FDI. Despite the fact that FDI is increasingly important to developing countries, over the past few years the share of the developing countries in worldwide FDI inflows has been declining. The paper analyses geographical and sector distribution of FDI in the Southeast European countries (SEEC) and compares its amount with that in Central East European countries. According to economic theory, FDI towards developing countries flows for labor-intensive and low-technology production, while towards developed states, it flows for high-technology production. Identification of determining factors of FDI is a complex problem which depends on several characteristics specific for each country, sectors, and companies. All those factors could be grouped in three broad categories: economic policy of host country, economic performance, and attractiveness of national economy. On the desegregated level, FDI depends on size and growth potential of a national economy, natural resources endowments and quality of workforce, openness to international trade and access to international markets, and quality of physical, financial, and technological infrastructure. An important question is how SEEC can attract more foreign investment. To find the answer, this paper uses data on FDI inflows to SEEC to determine the main host country determinants of FDI and provides regression-based estimation of determinants of FDI. Using a sample of SEEC and panel data techniques, the determinants of FDI in this part of Europe are investigated. The paper researches the relationship between FDI, GDP, GDP per capita, number of inhabitants, trade openness, inflation, external debt, and information and communication technology sectors. For SEEC, FDI inflows are largely dependent on the completion of the privatization process and in this paper we include the level of private sector and privatization as explanatory variables. Our findings suggest that certain variables such as privatization and trade regime, as well as the density of infrastructure, appear to be robust under different specifications. A positive significance of the agglomeration factor is also observed, confirming the relevant theoretical propositions. However, certain differential variables, such as the privatization, could not be fully captured due to the statistical homogeneity of the sample.     

Implementing the ecological approach in tobacco control programs: results of a case study

The ‘new public health’ has stimulated calls to adopt an ecological approach for action aimed at improving population health. However, the implementation of ecological programs has often remained a challenge. The objective of this study was to identify factors facilitating the implementation of ecological tobacco control programming in two Public Health Departments in Québec (Canada) using Scheirer's model of program implementation as a conceptual framework and an exemplary case study design. Analysis revealed two distinct configurations of environmental, organizational and professional characteristics that were related to equally successful implementations of the framework. Key roles for factors such as provincial ministerial guidelines and financial resources, human resources, and relationships and alliances with other organizations, were highlighted. These results replicate findings from quantitative surveys and allow better understanding of the conditions required for planning ecological programming.     

COMPARING CITIZEN AND ELITE BELIEF SYSTEMS IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

No previous research has systematically compared the policypreferences and attitudinal constraint of elites and ordinarycitizens in societies undergoing a fundamental change in theform of the government and the economic system. This articleutilizes directly comparable survey questions asked of a representativesample of citizens and their parliamentary representatives intwo post-Soviet countries, Russia and Ukraine, to determinethe degree of similarity that existed in the attitudinal preferencesand ideological consistency of these two sets of political actors6 months after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The level ofattitude consistency and ideological thinking among ordinarycitizens was found to be unexpectedly high, thereby reflectingthe degree of politicization occurring during the period immediatelypreceding the Soviet disintegration. Relative to other studiesof elites, however, the attitude constraint among the eliteswas unexpectedly low. This unexpected finding is explained bythe absence of various institutions and arrangements that promoteconsistent attitudes among elites in western democracies, suchas functioning political parties, lobby groups, and an investigatorymedia.     

The Efficacy of Prevention:

This article examines the status of children in selected parts of Southern Africa against the backdrop of current sociopolitical upheavals and weak economies that have kept some of these countries at the periphery of economic development. Given the limitations of international human rights legislations to enforce laws protecting children, without violating the rights of sovereign states and the limited social welfare resources, an ecological approach is used to argue for population control measures that have the efficacy of promoting the well-being of children and ensuring their survival.     

Worker Remittances and Capital Flows to Developing Countries

Worker remittances constitute an increasingly important channel for the transfer of resources to developing countries. Behind foreign direct investment, remittances are the second‐largest source of external funding for developing countries. Yet, literature on worker remittances has traditionally focused on the impact of remittances on income distribution within countries, on the determinants of remittances at a micro‐level, or on the effects of migration and remittances for specific countries or regions. Macroeconomic determinants and effects of remittances have received more attention only recently. Hence, the focus of this paper is on the macroeconomic determinants of remittances and on differences in these determinants between remittances and other capital flows. We find that remittances respond more to demographic variables while private capital flows respond more to macroeconomic conditions.