Limits to “Jewish power”: how Slovak Jewish leaders negotiated restitution of property after the Second World War

This article examines how Jewish leaders in post-war Slovakia negotiated the restitution of property with the legislative and executive powers in Bratislava and Prague. The Jewish leaders were affiliated with two Slovak Jewish organisations founded in 1945: the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Slovakia (Ústredný sväz ?idovských nábo?enských obci na Slovensku, ÚS?NO) and the Organisation of Victims of Racial Persecution at the Hands of the Fascist Regime in Bratislava (Sdru?enie fa?istickým re?imom rasovo prenasledovaných v Bratislave, SRP). The Secretary General of the SRP, Dr Vojtech Winterstein, was the main voice negotiating and promoting the interests of the post-war Jewish community. His invaluable collection of documents – the Winterstein collection – provides the source base for this article.     

One step further from detected contradictions in a child welfare unit—a constructive approach to communicate the needs of social work when implementing ICT in social services

Unintended consequences were detected when a new client data system was taken into use in a child welfare unit in the City of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. This paper describes how social work was practiced during this period of change and analyses the phenomena involved. The concept of agency is central in the theoretical frame of this research. The data consist of written documents, participatory observation and the researcher's cooperation with the unit. Based on the data and by using the tools of semiotic sociology, the period of change was described in the form of four intersecting and parallel stories, each with a specific theme. These stories formed the basis for more theorising in which models of action theories were used. The results of this study showed that in the situation of inadequate human resource allocation for social work the data system took on a role of an agent. There was evidence of unintended consequences on the basic task in child welfare as the data system affected the work processes.     

新媒体视角下廊坊市社会舆情教育与管理研究

新媒体对社会舆情具有双重影响：一方面,公众可以借此学习各种知识,关注社会发展,推动社会进步;另一方面,新媒体使日常舆论引导难度逐渐增大,政府公信力受到影响,网络信息安全面临挑战。面对此种情况,针对新媒体认识不足等突出问题,廊坊市应采取有效措施,优化社会舆论环境,建立新媒体舆情监测预警系统,科学调解控制社会舆情,拓宽公众表达渠道,促进社会政治经济健康发展。     

Impression Management,Super PACs and the 2012 Republican Primary

Super Political Action Committees (PACs) are new organizations within American politics allowing for unlimited donations to candidate campaigns. Super PACs helped make the 2012 Republican primary the most well‐funded primary in American history. Both candidates and Super PACs spend much of their money on televised campaign ads. My study of the 2012 Republican primary expands existing literature concerning political impression management by examining advertising imagery in the era of Super PACs. I developed a typology of performance types from a qualitative content analysis of television advertisements for both candidates and Super PACs. The significance of Super PACs as they interact and overlap with the images of candidate ads calls for analysis of the changing front stage in the political realm.     

When is brokerage negatively associated with economic benefits? Ethnic diversity,competition, and common-pool resources

There is a growing body of literature positively linking dimensions of social capital to economic benefits. Yet recent research also points to a potential “dark side” of social capital, where over-embeddedness in networks and the pressures associated with brokerage are hypothesized to constrain actors, having a negative effect on economic outcomes. This dichotomy suggests that context is important, yet the overwhelming majority of existing empirical evidence stems from socially homogenous populations in corporate and organizational settings, limiting a broader understanding of when and how context matters. We advance this discourse to a socially fragmented, ethnically diverse common-pool resource system where information is highly valuable and competition is fierce. Merging several unique datasets from Hawaii's pelagic tuna fishery, we find that network prominence, i.e., being well connected locally, has a significant, positive effect on economic productivity. In contrast, we find that brokerage, defined here as ties that bridge either structurally distinct or ethnically distinct groups, has a significant, negative effect. Taken together, our results provide empirical support to widespread claims of the value of information access in common-pool resource systems, yet suggest that in ethnically diverse, competitive environments, brokers may be penalized for sharing information across social divides. Our results thus contribute to an emerging theory on the fragile nature of brokerage that recognizes its potential perils and the importance of context.     

完善重庆公租房社区管理的思考

公租房社区是在新的住房保障形势下随公租房的大量建设而涌现的新型城市社区,这种社区不能完全套用现有一般城市社区管理方法。本文以大规模建设公租房的典型城市——重庆为样本,在分析其公租房社区管理现状、问题的基础上,通过借鉴国内外经验及分析公租房社区不同于一般城市社区的特点,提出完善公租房社区管理的思考。     

社会团体的三个面向与社会管理职能的发挥

发挥社会组织在社会管理领域的各项职能,对于创新社会管理具有十分重要的意义。以社会团体为例,它在社会管理领域的主要职能来源于三个面向,即:面向会员———规范会员行为,促进行业自律;面向公众———提供公共服务,促进资源整合配置;面向政府和其他团体———促进利益协商与对话,参与公共决策。在此过程中,社会团体对于激发社会活力、增加社会和谐因素、减少社会不和谐因素等发挥着重要的作用。当前,为促进社会团体的发展,调整政府与社会团体的关系、加大政策和资金的扶持力度是十分必要的。     

当前我国加强和完善社区管理和服务体系研究

加强和完善社区管理和服务体系具有重要意义。目前,我国街道办事处的职能不明确,条块分割,社区居委会行政化严重,社区公共服务亟待提高和完善,城乡社区服务资源严重不足,社区工作者人数少,工作任务重,社区工作专业化水平不高。因此,要发挥基层政府的主导作用,积极推进街道管理体制创新,健全基层群众自治制度,创新社区管理模式,完善社区公共服务体系,增强街镇和社区实力,推动我国社会工作的社区化。     

社会管理创新的法治理念及机制建构

社会管理创新的重要价值目标是建设法治社会。随着中国社会的转型和发展,需要不断提高社会管理的民主化和法治化水平。应以保障人权、公平正义、民主参与和权力制约的法治理念为导引,进一步完善民生民权保障的法制;加强依法行政,完善行政法制模式;强化公众民主参与机制;加强基层民主自治,培育和发展社会主义公民社会;健全多元化的公民权利救济机制,拓展法院的司法功能。     

现代化进程中的中国农村地区宗教管理

现代化对农村传统生活方式的冲击以及由此带来的不确定性,是中国农村地区宗教信仰的复兴之源。面对勃起的宗教团体,现有农村社会管理模式存在极大的弊端。对此,唯有转变传统观念,正确认识宗教价值,创新宗教管理模式,方能兴利除弊,防患于未然,以利于农村地区社会和谐发展。