Voluntary social insurance for Vietnamese laborers in the informal economic sector

Voluntary social insurance (VSI), a type of social insurance organized by the Government, allows participants, who work in the informal sector with unstable jobs and income, to choose the premium and payment methods in accordance with their income for their retirement plan. The rate of Vietnamese laborers participating in VSI is low. This study aims to examine the current situation of VSI participation of laborers, as well as their perception of VSI visibility and assessment of VSI policies and utilization. Results from survey with 293 laborers, including 144 VSI participants and 149 VSI non‐participants, and semi‐structured interviews with 60 stakeholders in two districts in Northern Vietnam show the lack of awareness of VSI existence among non‐VSI participants, and limited knowledge of VSI policies among VSI participants. Although participants endorsed beneficiaries and premium in the retirement plan, they were concerned about the long 20‐year premium payment duration in the situation of unstable jobs and income, and the lack of other benefits, for example, maternity leave and unemployment benefit. Results recommend better propagandas, distributed documents, and educational sessions on VSI policies on mass and social media, as well as at VSI conferences and their workplace.     

The Savings Approach to Financing Long-Term Care in Singapore

Summary

Singapore is grappling with provision of services for the current generation of older people at the same time as building the foundation for the coming generations of elderly. In this article, I analyze four sets of factors that are shaping long-term care policy and financing in ways that are almost unique to Singapore. First, current developments can only be understood in the context of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) that was established by the Government of Singapore in the 1950s to ensure that the working population saved for retirement; the Medisave and related schemes for financing health care were subsequently developed alongside the CPF. Most recently, the existing funding arrangements have been extended to some long-term care services, and options for further extensions are under consideration. Second, the government's philosophy of maintaining the primacy of family support for the elderly has been expressed through a number of initiatives that provide financial and other incentives to families, combined with an emphasis on community care. The third factor is the relationship between government and the voluntary welfare organizations that are the major providers of institutional and community services. Finally, a series of government-sponsored reviews and advisory councils have provided for widespread consultation on policy options. These developments are directed to achieving a multi-pillar approach in which intergenerational transfers through taxation will be limited, and the role of individual savings and insurance will be increased.     

Look West: The Evolution of US Trade Policy Toward Asia

US trade policy toward Asia has undergone an important evolution over the last 60 years, reflecting not only changes in its vision of engaging Asia but also in the general American approach to trade negotiations. Put succinctly, in the late 1980s the USA turned away from its former deep commitment to multilateral trade negotiations and began to pursue a strategy of ‘competitive liberalization’. This shift has been marketed as an innovative approach to trade negotiations, and includes the pursuit of bilateral and minilateral arrangements as well as sectorally based market opening. At the turn of the millennium we have seen the active pursuit of bilateral trade agreements. How can we categorize the patterns of US trade arrangements over time? What are the driving forces behind the evolution of US trade policy towards Asia? What are the implications, both domestically and internationally, of this changing US trade strategy? And finally, what is the likely direction of future US trade policy?

La política comercial de los Estados Unidos con Asia ha evolucionado de manera significativa durante los últimos 60 años. Esto se refleja no sólo en el cambio de visión de comprometer al Asia, sino también en el enfoque americano de las negociaciones comerciales. En pocas palabras, a finales de los años ochenta, los Estados Unidos se alejaron de su antiguo compromiso de negociaciones comerciales multilaterales e iniciaron una estrategia de ‘liberalización competitiva’. Este cambio se ha vendido como un enfoque innovador de las negociaciones comerciales. Esto también incluye la búsqueda de acuerdos bilaterales y minilaterales, así como la apertura de mercados con base en lo sectorial. Al cambiar de milenio se ha observado la búsqueda activa de acuerdos bilaterales de comercio. ¿Cómo podemos clasificar los patrones de los convenios comerciales de Estados Unidos en el tiempo? ¿Cuáles son las fuerzas motrices que están detrás de la evolución de la política comercial de los Estados Unidos con el Asia? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones tanto a nivel interno como a nivel internacional, del cambio de la estrategia comercial de los Estados Unidos? Y por último, ¿Cuál será la dirección más probable que adoptará en el futuro la política comercial de los Estados Unidos?

     

Trends in indigenous forms of mutual cooperation: Cases from Ghana

Abstract

Mutual cooperation has been a feature of African societies, particularly of Ghana. In the pre-colonial era, traditional societies relied on cooperation to mobilise social capital. Through a network of interdependence, individuals exchanged different types of help based on their relationship. Colonial rule, the impact of urbanisation, education and religion led to the invention of new forms of ethnic or indigenous voluntary associations in urban areas, which acted as bridges between the migrants and their communities. Indeed, these changes find explanation in the complexity theory, which helps us to understand the changes associated with the voluntary associations in terms of emergence, adaptability and self-organisation. This study, which was a case study research, collected data from leaders and members of associations through in-depth interviews and documentary sources. The results reveal that as associations adapt through co-evolution and internal and external changes, those who are not able to change to their environment atrophy. Those associations, such as the Mpraesoman kuo the Peki Union and BONABOTO, that have adapted to their environment continue to be in a state of flux.     

Absent Non-Fathers: Gendered representations of voluntary childlessness in Swedish newspapers

This article applies a media frame analysis in order to highlight representations of voluntary childlessness in Swedish newspapers. The analysis identifies how childfree couples are framed as carefree, fulfilled and content. Childfree women on the other hand are framed as struggling with problems, stereotypes and doubts. Childfree men are absent and implicitly framed as unconcerned and unaffected. Even in the only newspaper article that draws attention to men and voluntary childlessness the voice of the childfree man is absent. Instead of a childfree man a father of six is interviewed and presented as an exception. To explain these different frames this article argues that gender stereotypes, maternalism, pronatalism and heteronormativity influence who is constructed as newsworthy when news media report on voluntary childlessness. While the feminine identity and women's social role is conflated with motherhood, the link between fatherhood and masculinity is weaker. Because men's parenthood roles are indistinct so are men's roles as non-parents. As a result a father to a daughter in a previous relationship can be represented as part of a carefree and childfree couple. Consequently, childfree women are more newsworthy than childfree men, and a father of six is more newsworthy than a non-father.     

我国志愿服务中的“失灵现象”探析

我国志愿服务活动中存在的失灵现象阻滞了其进一步发展。为消解这一现象,需要探究其产生的原因,探讨针对性解决措施。通过文献查阅、问卷调查和个案访谈可知,我国志愿服务过程中"失灵现象"产生的原因主要是组织不够独立、管理不够规范、活动目的不够纯洁、活动范围不够宽广、服务资金不够丰足、激励机制不够健全、法规体系不够完善等。消解这一现象需要采取增强志愿组织的独立性、提高组织管理水平、强化服务公众意识、丰富志愿服务方式、拓宽资金来源、运用多样化激励手段、完善相应法规体系等措施。     

试论政府信息主动公开行为的司法审查

我国《政府信息公开条例》突出了主动公开在信息公开领域的积极作用,强调了政府主动公开信息的原则。但现实表明,我国政府信息并未真正处于阳光之下,有必要借鉴国外有关主动公开政府信息的有益经验,结合我国实情,完善我国政府信息主动公开制度,以望早日实现政府信息公开的价值目标,实现"阳光政府"建设。     

志愿服务价值与马克思主义人的价值理论的联系

志愿服务工作在当代世界迅速发展,各主要发达国家纷纷形成了符合自己国情的志愿服务体制。从1981年中国政府与联合国志愿人员组织代表在北京签约互派联合国志愿人员算起,我国的志愿服务发展已经有了三十多年的历史。在这三十多年的时间里,我国的志愿服务活动有了长足的进步,但也出现了不少问题。在改革开放的新时期,我国的志愿服务工作应该坚持与马克思主义的普遍原理相结合,从志愿服务的价值出发,从志愿服务价值与马克思主义价值理论之间的天然联系中树立社会主义的志愿服务价值,推动志愿服务工作更好地发挥自身的社会作用。     

Pressures on the UK Voluntary Sport Sector

This paper uses research from two projects, conducted for Sport England and for the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), to analyze pressures on volunteers in sport in the United Kingdom (UK). Both research projects were contract research, conducted to inform policy and therefore were not designed to build on theoretical insights. However, from the results the research developed an understanding of the interrelated pressures on the voluntary sector in sport, which was informed by theory. This paper describes the pressures and relates them to previous research into volunteers. Contextualizing the issues faced by volunteers in sports organizations suggests several questions for further academic work, not only focussed on sports volunteers, but the voluntary sector in general. In particular, are the pressures experienced by the voluntary sector in UK sport common to sports volunteers in other countries, and to what extent are they also a reflection of general pressures on the voluntary sector?     

试论我国刑法中自首制度构成要件之完善

自首是刑罚制度中的一项重要内容,对于司法机关有效追究和预防刑事犯罪以及对于犯罪人的改造和人权保护方面不可或缺。我国1979年刑法就确立了自首制度,1997年刑法对自首的本质、特征、条件和内容等各方面都进行了修正,但在自首的认定中出现的一些新的疑难、复杂问题长期困扰着我国的刑法理论界和司法实务界,这些问题归结到一点,就是我国刑法理论中对自首制度构成要件的认识还存在不足之处。本文认为,自首构成要件宜取“两要件说”,即取消“接受审查和裁判”作为自首的构成要件,但对“自动投案”与“如实供述自己罪行”这两个构成要件的内涵和外延有必要加以厘清和完善。