和谐社会视角下我国财政制度变革选择

在构建和谐社会的视角下进行财政制度变革,需要从民主、民生的角度进行。一个与和谐社会相匹配的财政制度应该满足三个要求：在利益分割过程中贯彻公平原则、在社会决策过程中实行民主原则以及公共资源在国家各项职能间的配置达到最优。我国现行的财政制度是不能满足这三个条件的,我们要按照构建和谐社会的要求来改革现行的财政制度,由现行财政制度向公共财政制度的转变时需注意现有利益结构的约束。     

对依法加强三江源区生态移民工程实施的思考

三江源区生态移民工程,既是该源区生态环境保护和建设重大工程的核心内容,也是该源区生态环境保护和建设工程能否最终取得成功的关键所在。所以,在已有基础上,通过法制手段,依法建立生态补偿机制;加大扶贫开发力度;继续推进退牧退耕还林草工程;实施素质教育和职业教育工程以及吸收和推广该地区有利于生态环境保护的本土法资源等,对该源区生态环境的保护和建设尤为重要。     

Profile of the Present Slovak Society and its Regional Differences

The article is the first attempt in assessment of the development and the present situation of social structure and stratification in Slovakia. Its principal aim is to develop the profile of the present society in Slovakia, which reflects the pace and complexity of the transformation process and its impact on society. Processing of Micro census data from 2003 led to creation of the profile of society in Slovakia at the national level based on income distribution but also knowledge on regional societies and differences between them were obtained. It was found out that the present profile of the society in Slovakia is pear-shaped which means strong representation of lower strata and weaker representation of higher middle and high strata. The profile disclosed some specific features and inconsistencies in the present society of Slovakia, which were, and still are determined by many non standard past and present phenomena and processes often disguised by reforms. The information drawn in regions has facilitated identification of the basic nature and structure of regional societies, some of their specific features and negative elements and to demonstrate their highly differentiated character.

The Best and Worst Times of Life: Narratives and Assessments of Subjective Well-Being by Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) measure of subjective well-being (SWB) aims to reduce the problems of cultural bias and relativity to external standards by allowing people to define the endpoints or ‘anchors’ of the measurement scale. In medical terminology anamnestic denotes ‘based on memory’. The ACSA uses subjects’ memories of the best and worst periods in their lives to define the anchors of the scale. They then assess their current quality of life relative to these personal anchors. The South African pilot study tested the match between self-assessment of SWB with ACSA and the conventional single-item measures of life satisfaction and happiness used in the South African Quality of Life Trends Study and analysed the narratives of the best and worst times of life. The quota sample of 46 consisted of 26 residents of Makana district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and 20 patients undergoing treatment in the local TB hospital. Mean SWB ratings with all three measures of life satisfaction, happiness and ACSA were between 5 and 6 on a 0–10-point scale. Ratings on all three scales were positively correlated. However, on ACSA the TB patients rated their current SWB 1.84 points lower than the community respondents, suggesting a greater sensitivity of this measure. It was observed that the starting points of the life stories produced by respondents to define the anchor periods for ACSA were related to their current assessment of SWB. A typology was developed that combined the starting point of the life stories with current SWB. The majority of community respondents matched the ‘Achiever’ type who scored positively on ACSA (i.e., above the mid-point of the scale) and whose life stories started with the worst period of their lives and proceeded to the best period. The TB patients were the only respondents to represent the ‘Survivor’ type whose morale had recovered after misfortune in life. ‘Survivors’ started their narratives with the best period in their lives, then moved to the worst (often health-related) one, and gave positive ACSA ratings. Based on the qualitative analysis of narratives, it is concluded that ACSA is a sensitive measurement instrument and therefore particularly useful for monitoring the effects of treatments and social interventions in longitudinal studies. However, further research is required to verify its cross-cultural validity.

Does Society Matter? Life Satisfaction in the Enlarged Europe

Life satisfaction is quite heterogeneously distributed across countries of the enlarged European Union. Previous research has shown how living conditions within individual countries, such as access to material and emotional resources, are important for personal well-being, but it has been less successful in explaining differences between countries. This article investigates whether it matters in which political and economic circumstances people live, as well as whether their particular perception of the quality of their societal environment plays a role. People are well aware that the institutional and cultural settings in which their lives are embedded create opportunities and limitations: within individual countries, perceptions of society influence life satisfaction outcomes irrespective of access to resources. However, their importance for well-being differs across Europe: perceptions of societies are highly decisive in countries that provide only a minimum of social security and in which the reliability of political institutions is poor. In rich and stable countries, the impact is weaker and private social support becomes more important. In addition to these country-specific weights of life satisfaction determinants, life satisfaction variations between countries can be explained to a large extent by taking into consideration the economic performance, the social security level, and the political culture in a country—all in all, general conditions that enable people to live a respectable life.     

India’s Social Development in a Decade of Reforms: 1990–91/1999–2000

The economic reforms initiated in India in 1991 have brought about visible upliftment of economic conditions of the country. This paper examines if the economic process is associated with an enhancement of India’s social development in equal measure in the reform decade of nineties. Ray (1989) considered thirteen social indicators of India and constructed the country’s social development index (SDI) as a certain weighted average of the selected indicators, for the years between 1950–51 and 1975–76. The present work broadly follows Ray (1989) in tracking the social development in the decade of economic reforms from 1990–91 to 1999–2000. The movement of SDI in nineties has been compared with the movements of India’s per capita income and plan expenditure on the social sector. The results show that though there has been growth in the social sector, it is not by far quite encouraging and perhaps more needs to be done in the social sector. The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not of the institution he serves.     

A Model of Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students in Korea

This study develops and tests a model of quality of college life (QCL) of students in Korea. In this study, QCL of students is conceptualized in terms of needs satisfaction and affect balance. It has been hypothesized that satisfaction with education services, administrative services, and facilities have a significant impact on QCL, which in turn positively influences identification, positive word of mouth, and overall quality of life. The results of a survey on 228 Korean college students largely support the model. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.     

移民的文化适应：宁夏吊庄移民的生育观念调适

以扶贫与保护生态环境为重要出发点的宁夏吊庄移民规划,使居住在宁夏西海固地区的大量回族群众搬迁到了宁夏北部易于得到黄河灌溉的地区。伴随着这样的移民搬迁,回族群众的思想观念必然发生变迁。在移民的各种思想观念中,生育观念的转变体现得最为直接与明显。因此,移民群众在生育观念方面的调适就显得极为重要。移民迁出地的历史传统、文化习俗以及迁入地的社会观念、价值标准．都深刻地影响着移民的生育观念。在这些因素中,迁入地城市文化的影响则是一个极为重要的因素。     

关于人口与自然和谐统一关系的再认识

伴随着人类经济社会的不断发展,人口、资源、环境的可持续问题日益受到人们的关注。马克思、恩格斯自然观对人与自然关系的分析及其所蕴涵的生态哲学思想．为正确认识人口与自然的和谐统一提供了独特的理论视阚。针对我国人口剧增、资源紧缺、环境恶化的严重形势,科学发展现生态文明理论的提出为实现人口与自然和谐统一提供了理论指南。     

和谐社会构建中的不和谐人口因素探析——基于广东省出生性别比偏高问题的研究

人口性别比协调是一重要的社会"稳定器"和"平衡未",而出生性别比是人口性别比的先导.广东省在构建和谐社会进程中所面临的不和谐人口要素之一便是出生性别比偏高.通过从孩次、城乡、区域以及人口流迁等方面进行剖析,广东省出生人口性别比在上述几个方面均出现了不同程度的失衡.通过"利离"发现,广东省出生人口性别比的总体偏高主要还是由于粤北和粤西等不发达地区农村户籍育龄妇女的超高出生性别比拉动所致,主要应从现念、领导、管理和法制等面标本兼治、综合治理.