Neo‐liberalism by Decay? The Evolution of the Czech Welfare State

In this article we analyse the evolution of the Czech welfare state and we examine the factors explaining its path. We show that although the Czech welfare regime exhibits a 'mixed profile' that includes conservative and universalist elements, it is increasingly moving in a more liberal, residualist direction – not because of conscious steps but rather through decay. Governments have often zig-zagged in their policies and resorted to symbolic reforms at times rather than implementing ideologically based, consistent policies. We argue that historical and sociological institutionalism combined with a social-capital approach can explain this decay better than the more common arguments about economic pressures combined with ideological hegemony or the protest-avoidance strategy. In particular, the social capital approach adds to our institutional framework by explaining why cutbacks in welfare programmes have not met much opposition, even though public opinion surveys consistently show support for more generous welfare policies, and why policies have deviated so much from political rhetoric.     

多弥史钩沉

多弥 ,为隋唐时期汉文文献史籍记载的西北民族之一。《新唐书·西域传下》记其为西羌 ,滨犁牛河 (今青海通天河 ) ,“役属吐蕃 ,号难磨 (Nam mo)”。本文据此 ,认为“难磨”即藏文文献中所记之“南”(Nam)国或南部族 ,源于汉代以来西羌中的“卑”等羌 (以上前人均有论述 )。南部族在古藏文文献中往往与吐蕃原始六族中的“董”(sDong)族联系在一起 ,故多弥可还原为“董弥”(sDongmi,即董人之意 )。此名可能为其他族人对其的称呼 ,“南”为吐蕃人对其的称呼。另外 ,吐蕃征服“南国” ,约在唐贞观六年至显庆元年 ( 63 2— 65 6)之间。后为吐蕃“四方面王”之一 (《贤者喜宴》)、与吐蕃赞普通婚和结盟的大家族那囊氏 (sNa nam)应为南部族首领或大家族之一。唐安史之乱后 ,吐蕃曾征调南部至西域一带防戍 ,故 2 0世纪以来新疆出土的藏文简牍中有“南茹”、“南茹巴”的记载。唐末至五代 ,汉藏文书所记之“南山”、“南波”等 ,其中杂有“南”部族 ,故其所以得名 ,除因其居地在“南山”(今祁连山 )外 ,还有其民族构成中有“南”部族的缘故。     

十六国时期少数民族政权法制的历史影响

十六国时期少数民族所建政权的法律制度多循魏晋,但当时一些有为君主为了适应特殊情势的需要,在取舍中原汉制的基础上,又制定了一些新的法律制度,在行政、刑事、民事、经济、婚姻、司法等制度方面均有所建树,从而使十六国时期的法制在中华法制文明发展史上留下了自己的身影。     

论多民族国家的政治理念及其贡献--以中国多民族国家与美国民族-国家的比较为例

西方学者认为,当前的世界是一个由“民族-国家(nation-state)”构成的“国际体系”。随着工业资本主义的全球扩张,“民族-国家”体系也已经扩张到全球的每一个角落;“民族主义(nationalism)”迄今为止仍然是全球范围内影响最为深远、最具有号召力的政治口号之一。但中国作为一个特例,在经历了引进“民族主义”话语的时代以后,却最终选择了“多民族国家”的政治理念,并在现实运作中稳步发展,这表明“民族-国家”及其“民族主义”意识形态并非这个世界上的唯一选择。     

明清时期国家与社会关系转型境遇下的回族社区——以历史上西安回族社区文化变迁为视点

本文以历史上西安回族社区为视点,运用人类学的理论和方法,在明清时期国家与社会关系转型的境遇下,分析了回族社区文化的变迁.     

Analysis of some ruin-related quantities in a Markov-modulated risk model

In this paper, we study the joint Laplace transform and probability generating function of some random quantities that occur in each environment state by the time of ruin in a Markov-modulated risk process. These quantities include the duration spent in each state, the number of claims and the aggregate amount of claims that occurred in each state by the time of ruin. Explicit formulae for the joint transforms, given the initial surplus, and the initial and terminal environment states, are expressed in terms of a matrix version of the scale function. Moments and covariances of these ruin-related quantities are obtained and numerical illustrations are presented. The joint transform of the duration spent in each state, the number of claims, and the aggregate amount of claims that occurred in each state by the time the surplus attains a certain level are also investigated.     

The Pinochet case: cosmopolitanism and intermestic human rights

This article explores the Pinochet case, widely heralded as a landmark, as a case of 'intermestic' human rights that raises difficult normative and empirical questions concerning cosmopolitan justice. The article is a contribution to the sociology of human rights from the perspective of methodological cosmopolitanism, developing conceptual tools and methods to study how cosmopolitanizing state institutions and cultural norms are inter-related. The argument is made that in order to understand issues of cosmopolitan justice, sociologists must give more consideration to political culture.     

State transition modeling of complex monitored health data

This article considers the analysis of complex monitored health data, where often one or several signals are reflecting the current health status that can be represented by a finite number of states, in addition to a set of covariates. In particular, we consider a novel application of a non-parametric state intensity regression method in order to study time-dependent effects of covariates on the state transition intensities. The method can handle baseline, time varying as well as dynamic covariates. Because of the non-parametric nature, the method can handle different data types and challenges under minimal assumptions. If the signal that is reflecting the current health status is of continuous nature, we propose the application of a weighted median and a hysteresis filter as data pre-processing steps in order to facilitate robust analysis. In intensity regression, covariates can be aggregated by a suitable functional form over a time history window. We propose to study the estimated cumulative regression parameters for different choices of the time history window in order to investigate short- and long-term effects of the given covariates. The proposed framework is discussed and applied to resuscitation data of newborns collected in Tanzania.     

Disagreement over the immigration of low-income earners in a welfare state

This paper studies natives’ economically motivated preferences over different levels of immigration of low-income earners. Immigration affects natives through both intra- and intergenerational redistribution programmes and in the labour market. Our analysis suggests, in a welfare state that looks after the poor and the aged, economic motivation does not necessarily lead a native to have an extreme opinion on the preferable level of immigration, although it causes disagreement among natives. We find, regardless of parameter values, high-income earners prefer at least as much immigration as low-income earners who, in turn, prefer at least as much immigration as pensioners. The median voter is then likely to be a low-income native.

论刑法中的国家机关工作人员

为探寻刑法中“国家机关工作人员”正当而科学的判断标准,我们提出了关于“国家机关工作人员”本质的“公职论”,探讨了“公职论”的法理根基与政治学基础,并进行了“国家机关工作人员”的刑法学释义与分类。