Australia’s national urban policy: The smart cities agenda in perspective

The Australian Government's attempts at national urban policy have been sporadic and inconsistent, under the constraints of constitutional, financial, ideological and political factors. This paper concerns the recent resurgence of national urban policy under the rubric of “smart cities” adopted by the Turnbull Government and carried on by the incumbent Morrison Government. It investigates how this round of smart cities agenda articulates with Australia's political tradition of national urban policy to seek continuity and change, through comparing historical policies, unpacking major smart cities programmes, identifying explanatory factors and critically commenting on its innovation and legacy. Drawing upon these analyses, this paper argues that understanding the smart cities agenda needs to move beyond the political, ideological “to-and-fro” pendulum to national urban policy observed in history. Rather, it resonates with a globalised policy norm established upon the city-based global integration and competition, driven by an imperative of transitioning to a knowledge economy and pursuing innovation capacity. It is too early to judge whether the smart cities agenda will bring changes to Australian cities in the way it wishes, since it involves long-term infrastructure investment and urban development projects. However, a comprehensive and consistent national urban policy to govern the Australian system of cities and towns has not been established yet.     

南京国民政府公务员考选制度的近代化意义

南京国民政府公务员考选制度是中国历史上第一个准现代化的人事考试制度,考选人才方面既吸收了古代考试的公平精神又采纳了西方文官考试的先进理念,具备了近代化的特征。从人才的选拔看具备了公平性,但体制的缺陷使其任用的成效不尽人意,阻碍了它近代化的进程。     

H-Day 1967 – An alternative perspective on “propaganda” in the historiography of public relation

This article presents an alternative perspective regarding the concept of “propaganda” in the historiography of public relations. Recent scholars of public relations have rightly criticized early attempts to write the field’s history as a linear progression, from propaganda to excellence. At the same time, however, the same recent scholars have come to accept a linear conceptual change, and that “propaganda” became an impossible term in liberal democratic countries in the 1960s. By using the empirical case of the massive communication efforts initiated by the Swedish Commission on Right-Hand Traffic, which was assigned to implement right-hand traffic in 1967, this article shows that the concept of “propaganda” both occurred frequently and was used in a neutral sense. To deepen the understanding of this alternative perspective, the article both presents how the historical actors conceptualized their work, and describes how the communication work of the Commission was performed.     

基层维稳的“人墙”模式及其反思——基于小镇在某祭祀活动中的维稳实录

维护社会稳定是基层治理中的重要工作。在节日及重大活动中保持社会秩序稳定,防止诉求者在政府认为不适当的时候,以不适当的方式对外宣泄诉求是基层治理中常规的维稳内容。文章通过描述鄂北一个小镇在某次祭祀活动中的维稳过程,试图说明,目前小镇乃至于全国多数乡镇在维持社会稳定中,惯用一种以人盯人为手段,利用很多人员构筑出多层次的"人墙",将可疑对象控制在"墙"内,最大程度限制其向外界宣泄诉求的"人墙"模式。尽管,在多道"人墙"的阻隔下,维稳效果能达到治理者的预期目的,但这种维稳模式成本过大,而且只是暂时隐藏矛盾而不能真正解决问题,从长远看,不具有可持续性。同时,采取这种方式维稳可能激发诉求者对政府的不满,暴露政府维稳工作的"软肋",甚至可能导致政府和诉求者的关系陷入恶性循环,其最终后果可能是大幅度提高政府维稳的成本和代价。     

南京临时政府时期的近代国家转型与民族关系之建构——以“五族共和”为中心

南京临时政府时期是中国近代国家转型与民族关系之建构的重要阶段,其基本情态就是"五族共和"。它是一个历史建构过程,包括思想文化领域与政治实践领域的双重认同与整合,同时也表明了中国近代国家转型与民族关系建构过程中的重要历史转折。由于阶级和时代的局限,"五族共和"在理论认识和具体实践中仍然存在严重的现实困境和诸多问题,中国近代国家转型与民族关系之建构仍然面临严重的危机和挑战。     

Tweeting about emergency: A semantic network analysis of government organizations’ social media messaging during Hurricane Harvey

While social media like Twitter have been increasingly adopted by public-sector organizations, it remains less explored as to how government and emergency management (EM) organizations use these platforms to communicate with the public in response to emerging natural disasters. Extending the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to the realm of social media, this study examines the emerging semantic networks from 67 government and EM organizations’ official tweets during Hurricane Harvey over a three-week period. It identifies how multiple crisis response strategies—including instructing information, adjusting information, and bolstering—are constituted of different issues, actions, and organizational actors before, during, and immediately after the disaster event. Results suggest that government agencies use the strategy of instructing information predominantly before and during the disaster, whereas adjusting information and bolstering strategies are utilized more during post-disaster recovery. The study offers theoretical and practical implications of using a semantic network approach to studying organizational crisis responses.     

Origins of the epithet ‘government by public relations’: Revisiting Bruce Catton's War Lords of Washington, 1948

While it might make public relations professionals and faculty cringe, the term ‘government by public relations’ is a negative one, implying that governmental decision-making is guided by appearances rather than on the merits. This tag line is a relatively common American put-down of politicians and senior civil servants. This article examines the origins of the term, locating its usage in the WWII memoirs of Bruce Catton, then a government public information officer and later a renowned popular historian of the American Civil War. Catton's use of the term, his 1948 book War Lords of Washington, and his philosophy of government public information are examined in more detail to give context to the phrase ‘government by public relations.’     

浅谈约旦穆斯林兄弟会与政府的关系

长期以来,约旦穆斯林兄弟会与政府保持着良好的合作关系。穆斯林兄弟会不仅未受政府的压制,反而处于上升的态势。这有别于埃及和其他国家穆斯林兄弟会与政府之间纷繁多变的关系,这种合作关系在整个中东地区的伊斯兰运动中都是罕见的。鉴于此,本文拟就约旦穆兄会与政府的关系作一论述。     

Reading Polanyi in Erbil: understanding socio-political factors in the development of Iraqi Kurdistan

ABSTRACT

The Kurdistan Regional Government emerges out of the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq as a rare positive, providing both political stability and economic growth. However, the outward display masks a more complex domestic settlement where the trappings of the free market coexist with political parties who are significant economic actors. How can this model of development in Iraqi Kurdistan be explained? Turning to the writings of political economist Karl Polanyi, does his thinking on relations between society and economy offer a way to unpack the development? And what does this analysis tell us of prospects for Iraqi Kurdistan?     

埃及过渡政府的外交政策之调整

埃及过渡政府成立以来,已在外交政策方面做出多方面调整:对中东和周边的以色列、伊朗、尼罗河流域国家等,过渡政府的外交政策调整以转向和改变为主,且调整幅度较大;对以美国为首的欧美大国,采取了延续基础上的调整;对包括中国在内的传统友好国家,则继续维持与深化与这些国家的关系.过渡政府对外交政策作出调整的原因主要包括:国内群众的诉求、重塑阿拉伯世界的领导形象以及革命后埃及“本土化”意识的兴起.埃及在外交方面的调整涉及美国、伊朗、以色列、海湾国家、非洲各国等,无疑对地区安全与合作产生了重要影响.