Linguistic competition and education spending in Spain 1992–2008

Linguistic competition occurs when two or more linguistic groups vie against each other for resources from the same state. What are the effects of this competition on education spending? In this paper, we examine two competing explanations. On the one hand, there is the claim that increasing levels of ethno-linguistic diversity can decrease education spending. On the other hand, there is also the argument that education spending is higher when there is electoral competition. Using a newly assembled dataset of education spending at the subnational level for Spain (1992–2008), we test these two arguments. We find (1) while ethno-linguistic diversity matters for spending, the effect is not in the expected direction and (2) electoral competition can affect education spending. We also find that the type of education curriculum (monolingual versus bilingual) can moderate the effects of ethno-linguistic diversity. These results shed light on the commonly held belief that diversity stunts education spending.     

官员“亲民秀”的效应、成因与合理应用——基于剧场政治的分析

官员"亲民秀"作为一种彰显态度、表达情感的"剧场政治"行为,需辩证看待。顺应民意且符合媒介传播规则的"亲民秀"有利于塑造良好官员形象、提升政府公信力,强化政治认同,夯实合法性基础;而沽名钓誉的"亲民秀"则强化官民对立情绪,危及党和政府公信力,消弥合法性支持。国家与社会关系的重塑要求官民互动以彰显民主价值、培育人群互信,但仅对上负责的官员选拔任用机制、急功近利的政绩观导致伪、劣"亲民秀"泛滥。新媒体时代,应强化制度顶层设计,构建民主科学的选人用人机制以及多向度、立体化的政绩考核体系,合理运用媒体工具,使"亲民秀"实现内容与形式的深度契合,从而塑造良性政治生态。     

技术方案综合评价理论研究

技术方案综合评价理论是技术经济学基本理论之一。本文根据作者亲身经历，对技术方案综合评价的客观必要性、技术方案综合评价理论及其发展历史谈了个人看法。文中首次提出文化评价标准应该从社会评价标准中独立出来，与政治、国防、社会、技术、经济、环境和资源七个评价标准并列。综合评价一般应包括政治、国防、社会、文化、技术、经济、环境、资源八个方面评价标准。但是对于某些技术方案可以根据具体情况和要求选择其中几个评价标准进行综合评价。     

博弈论政治学：主题、主体与主线——一种致力于促进政治学科学化的探索研究

政治学主题是时代发展的产物。政治学研究因为切入政治实践才显示出其蓬勃的生命力。政治学主题的形成取决于政治学主体的思维和活动,因为在很大程度上政治学是研究政治主体思维或行为及其政治制度的一门学科。在政治学主题牵引下,政治发展始终贯穿着一条政治权力与政治权利博弈的逻辑主线。提炼政治学主题、观察政治主体、把握政治主线成为当代政治科学研究的内在要求。作为一种将政治学科学化的尝试,博弈论政治学运用数理模型力求能够客观地描述人们的政治行为、解释政治现象,进而预测政治社会的发展变迁,促进经济社会实现科学发展。     

北魏皇族政治体制之考察——以宗室八公为中心

北魏模仿魏晋制度,设三师、二大、三司组成八公,八公官居一品,位高权重,对朝政具有强大的干预能力,身为拓跋始祖神元帝力微后裔的宗室群体在其中占有很大的比例,对异姓勋贵构成压倒性优势。宗室八公权倾朝野,威望显赫,制约着王朝政局的走势。但其在不同历史时期的身份构造和权力特征迥然有异,需要结合当时的形势具体分析。宗室大规模地跻身八公,充分证明北魏皇族政体之客观存在,此乃拓跋部族传统与现实政治生活共同作用的结果。     

Doing Gender,Practising Politics: Workplace Cultures in Local and Devolved Government

This paper takes a workplace perspective to explore the ways in which institutional arrangements influence the doing of gender and the practising of politics. It compares the workplace culture of the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) with that of local government in Wales, showing that the culture of the NAfW is experienced as less masculinized than local government and that women, and men, are less constrained to perform an aggressive, confrontational masculinity. This suggests that, in new political institutions, practising politics may be less closely tied to a particular way of doing gender and as a result may challenge the gendering of politics. Theoretically the paper engages with debates about doing, redoing and undoing gender, arguing that in order to understand how change can be brought about, attention needs to be paid to the structural context within which gender is done as well as the interactional level of doing gender.     

The Case for Prefigurative Feminist Organizing

Contemporary feminist community organizing is not entirely consistent in practice. Drawing from current and historic examples, as well a feminist literature, this article examines tensions and contradictions between feminist ideas and praxis. The author suggests that contemporary feminist organizing ideas and practices adhere to masculinist models, and do not offer a liberatory and inclusive model for social change. Recommendations for a consistency between the public and private spheres, and processes and outcomes, are discussed.     

The constructive aspect of political behavior in strategic decision-making: The role of diversity

While there have been extensive empirical and theoretical investigations on political behavior, most previous empirical studies have focused on political behavior as a negative force. In order to extend prior research, this study reconciles the upper echelons theory with the broaden-and-build theory and the work of the positive organizational behavior movement to investigate the antecedents and effects of constructive politics. It explores how different aspects of diversity influence constructive politics and the extent to which the latter contribute to decision performance, namely, decision success and decision pace. Data were drawn from 200 survey respondents in Dubai. The results supported not only the role of constructive politics in decision performance but also the role of demographic and competency diversity in constructive politics. The current research contributes to the exploration of constructive politics in decision-making and raises additional questions in an attempt to supply, with related research, significant missing portions of the political behavior story.