The Rules of the Game: The Politics of National Pensions in Korea

This article explores the conditions in which policy changes occur over time. It studies the institutional pathways taken by national pensions in Korea over an extended period by identifying the key moments which have pushed through their development: initiation (1973), implementation (1988) and reform (1998). Public pensions have developed over time in an incremental fashion, bringing an ever‐growing proportion of the population under their umbrella. What accounts for this development? A number of factors may be at work. The elderly population has rapidly increased; the traditional extended family has increasingly become a nuclear one, meaning that what used simply to be a family issue of protecting the elderly has become a social matter; urbanization and industrialization have resulted in an ever‐growing number of life‐time contingencies such as unexpected income losses. Convincing as these socio‐economic accounts may seem, however, they offer only a snapshot, underscoring the politics of national pensions which stretch over long periods. This article seeks to answer how and in whose interest national pensions come on to the political agenda; how they are framed and defined; and how political actors respond to pressures for national pension reform. In each of the three stages, it is suggested, somewhat different institutional rules have operated. Defining institutional rules as ‘the process of who gets represented in the decision‐making processes’, this article identifies the different institutional rules which have played a pivotal role in the social policy‐making processes.     

Los determinantes y consecuencias de la desconfianza en México1

This paper analyzes the relationship between interpersonal trust and the trust in different institutions as well as its involvement with sociodemographic and political culture-related variables and its connection with associativism. For this, 1993 and 2000 national surveys where used. The results show that there is independence between interpersonal trust and the trust in institutions, because they are built by different processes. There is also a slight relationship between sociodemographic variables and political values or ideology. Interpersonal trust is linked with active participation in associations, which may point out that it is associated to specific forms of social organization. On the other hand, trust in institutions seems to respond more to the behavior of the political system, its performance, and how it is evaluated. Besides, it appears that the trust is influenced by age or place of residence. Older persons and those living in small villages are associated with conservatism. Non-political institutions (such as religion, unions, etc.) could be affected by policy performance.     

论高校档案干部的创新能力及培养

在知识经济飞速发展的新世纪里,创新不再是自然科学领域所专有,在社会科学领域,在档案工作中,同样需要创新.面对新时期档案工作遇到的新情况、新问题,必须从观念、机制、培训模式和理论等多方面培养和激发高校档案干部的创造能力.     

村落视野下的农民机构养老意愿研究——基于鄂、川、赣三省抽样调查的实证分析

本文基于对鄂、川、赣三省34个村庄农民的问卷调查数据,运用定序Logistic回归模型,分析了村庄因素尤其是宗族对于农村居民入住养老机构意愿的影响。研究发现:虽然现阶段机构养老成为了部分农村居民的养老选择,但总体来看,多数农民入住养老机构的意愿较低。村庄的宗族结构和功能在一定程度上影响农村居民入住养老机构的意愿。有非正式宗族网络的农村居民比没有宗族网络的农村居民入住养老机构的意愿低,有正式宗族组织的农村居民入住意愿最低。宗族在公共服务中的功能越强,农村居民入住养老机构的意愿越低。同时,家庭在村庄中的经济社会地位处于非下层的农村居民比处于下层的农村居民入住意愿更低。     

Caring for profit: Alienation and work stress in nursing assistants in Canada

Personal care work in proprietary nursing homes was contrasted with similar work in non-profit long-term care facilities. One quarter of Manitoba long-stay beds are operated by proprietary (profit-making) institutions. In both types of home, the nursing assistants were younger women with children; essential wage earners for their families. Wages were low, but nursing assistants said they worked because they liked taking care of elderly people. Nursing home residents have cognitive and mobility impairments and need help with activities of daily living. The proportion of cognitively-impaired residents is higher in profit-making homes, and probably contributed to job pressure and workload, which were taken as markers of potential alienation experienced by these workers.     

Institutional foundations for a just society

The author distinguishes between fundamental justice and incremental justice and argues that the Harsanyian/Rawlsian, ex ante, concept of justice is the only concept of justice relevant to the design and evaluation of institutions. Unlike incremental justice for which a concensus as to what constitutes justice is generally not possible the conditions that satisfy the Harsanyian/Rawlsian concept of justice are derived from the assumptions of rationality and aversion to large risks, and the postulate of fairness. A concensus occurs not fortuitously but inevitably. The paper develops eight principles of institutional design that contribute towards a just society and that follow logically from these assumptions and postulates. The paper argues that these principles are by and large needed for social welfare maximization, so that justice is generally consistent with efficiency. The paper applies the theory to the concept of exploitation, crime and punishment, as well as labour market and social security, to illustrate the working of the principles developed.     

居住证对外来流动人口的制度后果及激励效应——制度导入与阶层内的再分化

制度导入的一个重要功能是将原来自发的社会分化正式化和固定化了,并赋予不同阶层的人群以更清晰的身份标签,呈现一个可视的清晰的阶层梯度。本研究以大城市居住证制度引入之后外来流动人口的分化为例说明另一种社会分层的机制特征。虽然外来人口内部的不同阶层之间收入差距并不是非常大,但是其亚阶层的社会保障、就业和教育机会以及通往上一阶层流动或成为城市居民的机会却存在显著的差异。阶层的再分化是由外在制度因素与人群的人力资本、单位以及社会关系状况等内在因素交互作用的产物。作为外在制度的公共政策是非中性的,政策本身具有选择和歧视的不平等特性。     

加强管理:构建节约型高等学校

在社会主义初级阶段,必须走构建节约型高等学校的办学道路.通过科学决策、强化管理、制度保障等措施,降低办学成本,优化办学过程.以最少的投入提高办学质量和效益.     

刍议一般院校的引才、促才与用才

教育部实施的一系列“人才强校”计划取得了巨大成就,但为数众多的一般院校的人才队伍仍“入不敷出”。与重点高校或著名高校相比,一般院校办学条件或综合实力处于相对弱势,必须根据各自校情处理好“外才”与“内才”的关系,结合学校的优势学科、办学特色和发展规划,有针对性地引进高层次人才;集中财力物力为人才搭建起高质量的发展平台;重视挖掘和培养自己的人才并创造一个人人都渴望成才、人人都能够成才的氛围。     

试论高校教学质量长效监控机制的构建

伴随高校在校生规模的持续大幅增长,中国高等教育已实现了由“精英教育”向“大众化教育”的转化。能否保证教育质量,既关系到每所学校的生存发展,也关系到高等教育大众化的成败。因此,要达到提高教育质量的目的,必须构建全面、长效的教学质量监控机制。