Democracy and government public relations: Expanding the scope of “Relationship” in public relations research

The author argues that the unique nature of the US government poses significant barriers to democratic governmental public relations practiced in and by the US. By exploring challenges in relationship management that surface while analyzing a particular instance of government public relations, the author posits that relationship management research should take into account publics’ (non)desire for a relationship as well as different types of organization–public relationships (OPRs) including government–public relationships. The author analyzes the US Government's official apology, administered by President Clinton, to Tuskegee study survivors, introduces the communicative conception of distance to PR to broaden relationship management frameworks, and argues for broader understanding of what constitutes democratic public relations.     

试论社会主义协商民主的本质内涵

本文论述了西方协商民主的涵义及中国特色协商民主的本质内涵,阐明中国特色协商民主对于进一步发扬社会主义民主、构建和谐社会、增强中国共产党的执政能力、实现中国梦的重大意义。     

多民族国家民主化道路的复杂性研究——以不丹为例

民族为民主国家提供了身份认同的基础。多民族国家内的民族冲突,成为其民主化道路的重要障碍。不丹民主化过程中产生的民族分裂问题,就属于此例。不丹在实现政治民主化的同时,推行以民族同化与融合为目的的民族不丹化政策。1985年以后,这种不丹化政策由劝导变为强制。拒不接受被同化的不丹尼泊尔族,被迫离开不丹逃往尼泊尔沦为难民。不丹所面临的民族与民主困境,在多民族国家中普遍存在。不丹政府有必要借鉴其他国家的成功经验,尽快走出困境。     

社会主义民主法治论略

跳出历史周期率我们要靠民主 ,但“十年内乱”的经验教训表明民主要靠法制保障 ,没有社会主义法制 ,就没有社会主义民主。政治文明与民主法治具有广泛的同一性。政治文明需要法治文明的支持和保障 ,离开民主法治 ,政治文明将无从谈起。     

西方协商民主理论是当代中国协商民主可资借鉴的重要资源

西方协商民主在当代西方世界有着重要的影响作用。在全球化的今天,社会主义民主政治也面临着发展的机遇和挑战。正确认识、正确评价和正确借鉴西方协商民主理论,对于当代中国的协商民主发展有着重要的理论和现实意义。     

公共政策合法性的民主化重建*——公共领域视野下的“医改”进程审视

当下中国的公共领域正在蓬勃兴起,并展现出浓重的法治诉求.特别是“医改”的议题设置及其“问题化”、方向讨论中的利益博弈、“案件”披露的制度性反思等等,在公共领域中形成了巨大的“层级”共振和溢散效应,不仅对公共政策合法性进行了民主化供给和时代重建,也为民主法治进程提供了新兴动力和支撑.     

基于有效治理的复合民主:中国民主成长的可能方式

既要顺应民主的潮流,落实民主的普适价值,又要切实应对巨型国家治理的种种现实难题,政治发展的特殊境遇,决定了有效治理乃是中国民主政治建设合乎逻辑的现实目标和基本准则.基于有效治理的民主实践不会拘泥于现有的民主制度形式,而很可能会在长期的试错性探索过程中,将各种有效的民主实现形式吸纳和整合到国家治理过程之中,形成一种复合型的民主政治体系.     

Is democracy pro poor in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This study examines if democracy reduces poverty in 40 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1999–2018. For this purpose, we employ the Generalised Method of Moments. The results show that democracy is not directly associated with poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this observation hides important non-linearities and an interesting pattern of policy complementarities. Indeed, democracy is associated with poverty reduction in countries where economic growth is strong and human capital high. The robustness tests carried out do not change these results. This means that poor economic growth and weak human capital not only have a direct negative effect on the well-being of SSA countries, but also prevent the poor in those countries from benefitting the gains of democracy. Therefore, in order to reduce poverty in SSA, policy makers should continue the process of democratization while simultaneously adopting policies of economic development and human capital building. Democracy in isolation is useless for the poor in SSA.     

Statistics and Politics in a “Knowledge Society”

The importance of information in economic and political processes is widely recognised by modern theories. This information, coupled with the advancements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has changed the way in which markets and societies work. The availability of the Internet and other advanced forms of media have made information more accessible to citizens than ever before. Therefore, the ideal of the “fully informed decision maker” should be a reality. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. As Einstein put it, “information is not knowledge” and although citizens are bombarded by information on a constant basis, this bombardment does not necessarily bring about knowledge. Several studies have analysed the characteristics of the knowledge society, as well as its impact on the production of “official” statistics. In this paper we do not enter into this debate, but we analyse the role of statistics in building a knowledge society and improving the democratic control of policy makers. The paper analyses the relationships between information, expectations and economic theory, as well as the nexus between information and political sciences. Various approaches to the measurement of societal progress and the role of “key indicators” in this respect are also discussed. Finally, both theoretical models and empirical evidence about what citizens know on societal progress are discussed and the OECD project on the measurement of societal progress is presented.

论政治监督与民主自由的实现

政治民主和政治自由是人的主体性不断提升的必然要求 ,是人类社会政治发展的重要标志。民主自由的实现有赖于民主的政治体制 ,而民主政治体制的核心制度功能之一就是政治监督 ,民主自由政治的各种制度无不包含着对政治权力进行监督与制衡的机制。因此 ,政治监督是实现政治民主和政治自由的基本途径 ,民主自由的发展必须以健全和完善政治监督制度为基本前提