Nepal's Child Grant: A mixed‐methods assessment of implementation bottlenecks

This article evaluates the implementation of the Child Grant, one of the major social protection interventions in Nepal, and identifies bottlenecks that limit its ultimate effectiveness. On the whole, while delivery works for many beneficiaries, we found inconsistencies between the way the policy is laid out on paper, and the way it is actually implemented. Targeting efficiency is high, despite the wealth targeting criterion not being applied in practice. Owing to informal awareness‐raising campaigns, beneficiaries’ knowledge on registration, eligibility and entitlement is patchy. Payment levels vary and tend to be infrequent. These implementation bottlenecks limit the Grant's effectiveness and temper some of its impact potential.     

自由革命的专制命运：托克维尔的未完成革命著述

托克维尔在关于法国大革命与拿破仑的未完成著述中讨论了大革命中自由和平等的张力以及革命的政治动力。在作为大革命第一阶段的1787-1789年的自由革命中,由激进的民主自由观念推动的阶级斗争逐步压倒了贵族自由和精英自由观念。王权的削弱和相关的错误决策加剧了阶级斗争并强化了革命意识形态,民众暴力的介入推动了革命的激进化,导致革命在内部分裂和权力斗争中走向恐怖。大革命后期,法国人既厌倦革命和政治的动荡,又热爱革命带来的平等和利益,继承了革命平等而抛弃了自由的拿破仑得到了法国人的拥戴。同时,托克维尔揭示了革命和拿破仑的个人统治如何继承了旧制度的政治文化遗产,特别是国家主义。     

Extending maternity protection to all women: Trends,challenges and opportunities

Protecting maternity at work has been one of the primary concerns of the International Labour Organization since its foundation in 1919. Along with fundamental human rights treaties, the adoption of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) and, more recently, the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, 2012 (No. 202), have marked the universalization of the right to maternity protection and call for its extension to all women in line with the principle of equal opportunity and treatment between women and men. In the framework of these historical developments, this article presents evidence of how national legislative provisions on paid maternity leave have improved in the light of the principles of international labour standards, although a large majority of women workers are still not adequately protected in case of maternity. The article then addresses patterns of exclusion from maternity protection in law and practice, and concludes by discussing some social protection programmes that have the potential to extend maternity protection coverage and support to meet the care needs of the most vulnerable and which do so with a gender transformative focus.     

Financing social security out of contributions: About origins,present discussions and prospects of a success story

In writing the overture to an issue on contribution financed social security one cannot but speak of Bismarck; it must also address Beveridge who saw contributions, although in their design and role clearly differently from Bismarck, as one core revenue tool to finance his vision. Beveridge attributed to the private financial sector a prominent role in securing people against the negative effects on income of shocks and crises, while Bismarck did not. Beveridge's concept, when first published, had, and still has today, the most attractive charm of rigorously satisfying peoples' striving for equitable and inclusive societal solutions. Bismarck's concept intrinsically offers income security only to those who contribute, while the level of protection depends on the level of contributions paid (with the exception of health insurance). In reality, both concepts, where implemented, had to face the realities of socio‐economic and political developments: Beveridge's vision was achieved in respect of access to health services where his proposal, in its predominantly tax‐financed version, has since turned into a worldwide blueprint for health schemes; in its other components, it was not resilient enough to achieve the intended standards and now is replete with means‐tested (poor relief) elements. Bismarck's scheme has proven its potential to achieve “universality”, not necessarily by theoretical design but as a matter of fact, i.e. covering people from cradle to grave (like Beveridgean schemes). With globalization, schemes of both origins have had to face massive neoliberal attacks over the last three decades. Which of the approaches is best able to survive must be left an open question: in the current worldwide context of rapid change, both have weak and strong points, and whether a symbiosis of the two offers the answer to future challenges remains to be seen.     

Little cash to large households: Cash transfers and children's care in disadvantaged families in Ghana

Social protection is widely considered to have a positive effect on children, including supporting improvements in nutritional, educational and health outcomes. Much less is known, however, about the impact of interventions on children's care. This article considers the impact of a social cash transfer targeted at poor households – Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme – on child well‐being, quality of care and preventing children's separation from their parents as perceived by programme and non‐programme beneficiaries in a context of vulnerability, large households and widespread informal kinship care. Findings suggest that cash transfers can improve both material and non‐material aspects of well‐being and contribute to the quality of care and have the potential to prevent children's separation from their parents. At the same time, not all children appear to benefit equally, with non‐biological children being disadvantaged. The combination of large household sizes with programme design and implementation challenges, including low transfer amounts, a cap on the maximum number of eligible household members and poor sensitization and follow‐up, undermine the positive role that cash transfers can play.     

A multifactorial explanation of youth unemployment and the special case of Austria

One of the biggest challenges currently facing European society is the dramatically high level of youth unemployment. Commonly, political solutions and strategies can be found in those countries that have been able to keep youth unemployment low in spite of the financial and economic crises. Austria is such a case. On the basis of European Union Member State data, the article gives a multifactorial explanation of youth unemployment and asks whether these factors can explain relatively low youth unemployment in Austria. With the country's “youth safety net” presented in detail, it is shown that active labour market policy reduces youth unemployment in Austria. The article also points out the limitations of cross‐country comparisons of youth unemployment rates and proposes the use of a greater number of indicators. Finally, the article argues for economic policies to stimulate demand, which have to be based on a political and social commitment to full employment.     

A multiple stream generator based on de Bruijn digraph homomorphisms

We propose a method to obtain several streams of pseudorandom numbers based on a backbone generator of the generalized shift register type. The method is based on inverting one cycle in a de Bruijn digraph into many sequences in a higher-order de Bruijn graph via an appropriate graph homomorphism. We apply this technique to twisted generalized feedback shift register generators and to the Mersenne Twister MT19937. Positive results of statistical testing are reported.     

语言符号任意性的哲学探索

语言符号是由施指和所指在任意性原则的基础上结合而形成的一种代码符,其意指功能只有通过使用者的认知活动才可能得以实现。语言符号的组成及各部分之间的关系可以更适当地以化合物隐喻来建构。无论从物理的还是从生物本能的角度看,施指和所指都不存在对应关系。任意性原则将语言从纷繁芜杂的社会现象中剥离出来,揭示了语言自治的系统性、创造性,从而确定了语言学研究的对象,规定了语言研究的共时性,使语言研究成为现代意义上的科学研究。     

The imagined ‘other’ and its shifts: politics and identifications in Turkish Cyprus

This article addresses the puzzling case of shifting identity constructions in northern Cyprus, from ethnic to civic–territorial in 2003 and back to ethnic in 2009. It is argued that these shifts occurred when external factors (EU and Turkey) opened/closed windows of opportunity for internal elites’ reconfigurations. It then explains societal responsiveness to these nation-building changes sustaining that, over time, a process transforming the perception of the ‘other’ took place from below and a civic–territorial identity layer (Cypriotness) developed along the ethnic-Turkish layer. These coexist and fluctuate depending on the given context of choice.     

修辞学是否属于言语语言学的大讨论

围绕修辞学是否属于言语语言学的问题,我国语言学界讨论了半个多世纪,至今未能达成共识。文章首先扼要介绍了否定派和肯定派的基本观点,然后就导致意见分歧的原因作了全面深入的剖析。最后指出,为了推动语言学的基础理论建设,有必要将有关讨论进一步引向深入。