Voluntary Associations' Impact on the Composition of Active Members' Social Networks: Not an Either/Or Matter

Membership in voluntary associations is often assumed to have a homogenizing or diversifying impact on the social composition of members' personal relations. In this study, we examine these assertions empirically in a sample (n = 818) comprising active members of voluntary associations in a typical midsized Swedish community. We investigate whether people whom active members of voluntary associations have met through their voluntary activities are more or less likely to share their social characteristics than people whom they have met elsewhere. Our results show that acquaintances whom our respondents have acquired within voluntary associations are less likely to share several of their significant social characteristics than other members of their personal networks, but more likely to reside in their vicinity than others. Consequently, our results give fairly robust support to the “integrating hypothesis” according to which voluntary associations contribute to the social diversification of their members' personal networks. We do, however, emphasize the principally important aspects of our results, according to which relations acquired through involvement in voluntary associations may have simultaneously homogenizing and diversifying effects on individuals' personal networks. Furthermore, the effect may also depend on the specific dimension(s) of the networks under consideration.     

两税合并中内资企业行为分析

对内资企业在两税合并中相对其他利益各方的集体不作为进行分析,论述了企业个体存在搭便车行为和个体理性与集体理性的冲突,能够独立自主代表企业利益、协调企业集体行动的行业协会缺位,企业存在影响政策执行的可选策略等,导致了内资企业在两税合并中的不作为.     

场:做好新形势下群众工作的新思考

高校学生社团及社团活动是实施素质教育、为党和国家培养优秀建设人才的重要途径和有效形式,是高校校园文化建设的重要载体,是学生"自我管理、自我教育和自我服务"的集中表现,在创新校园文化建设、提高学生综合素质、引导学生适应社会、促进学生成才就业、强化学生思想政治教育、实践科学调研和维护学校稳定等方面发挥着十分重要的作用。文章着重从新时期高校学生社团的机制保障、理念探索等方面进行了思考和探索。     

More Participation,Happier Society? A Comparative Study of Civil Society and the Quality of Life

A ‘good society’ has recently been portrayed as one in which citizens engage in voluntary associations to foster democratic processes. Arguably, such a good society is considered as one where people are content with their own lives as well as public life. We consider whether participation in civil society leads to more satisfied individuals on the one hand and a better evaluation of society at a country level on the other. With data from the first round of the European Social Survey, we illustrate that participation in voluntary associations not only depends on individual characteristics, but that there is a clear country-level effect on civil society. This can be explained with measures of quality of society after socio-demographic determinants have been controlled for. Nonetheless, it remains difficult to say what comes first: a ‘good society’ or a thriving civil society.

国外行业组织政策参与研究及对我国的启示

20世纪80年代以来,国际学术界涌现出一批关于行业组织政策参与的研究成果.这主要包括三个方面:行业组织政策参与类型与国家—社会关系、行业组织政策参与能力及其影响因素以及政策参与对行业与经济发展的影响.在当前我国国家与社会关系转型的背景下,这些成果对我国行业组织的发展及研究具有重要的借鉴价值.     

从认知角度考察「モノダ」语用条件与各语意的关联

本文依据认知语言学理论,对「モノダ」前接词及主题等,借助语料库进行了分析研究,分析其本来意义及引申语意、语用前提,侧重探讨「モノダ」各语意之间的关联和区别,指出了「モノダ」语用条件、表现形态和主题、前接动词属性,完善了对「モノダ」的认知,对其语意分析应进一步细化,便于理解、掌握。     

What Options Do We Have? Exploring Routes for Social Workers` Policy Engagement

For social workers, engagement in policy processes aimed at furthering social justice is a professional obligation. Nonetheless, the literature on social workers’ policy engagement has yet to clearly explicate the range of options open to social workers seeking to realize this obligation. This article discusses six policy routes through which social workers in democratic societies can affect the policy process: voluntary political participation, holding elected office, policy practice, policy involvement by and through professional organizations, academic policy involvement, and street-level policy involvement. This conceptualization of policy routes can serve as map of options for social workers and as a heuristic tool for students.     

Do Donors Care? Some Australian Evidence

It is commonly believed that individuals would donate more to charity if they were assured that the funds would not be wasted. This is a common answer to survey type investigations into charitable giving. In this paper we adopt a law and finance approach to investigate the validity of this contention in the Australian context. We develop an Accountability Rights variable and relate that variable to charitable donations. The relationship between the two is statistically weak and not robust.     

Interpersonal trust and voluntary associations: examining three approaches

The relationship between interpersonal trust and membership in voluntary associations is a persistent research finding in sociology. What is more, the notion of trust has become a central issue in current social science theorizing covering such diverse approaches as transaction costs economics or cognitive sociology. In different ways and for different purposes, these approaches address the role of voluntary organizations, although, as this paper argues, much of this thinking remains sketchy and underdeveloped. Against an empirical portrait of this relationship, the purpose of this paper is to assess such theorizing. We first set out to explicate major approaches to trust in economics, sociology and political science, using the non-profit or voluntary organization as a focal point. We then examine the various approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and, finally, identify key areas for theoretical development. In particular, we point to the social movement literature, the social psychology of trust, and recent thinking about civil society.