The regional brand: collective image consciousness in Africa and Southeast Asia

States in the same region are bound together by the ways in which the world imagines them as a collective. One distinguishing feature of post-Cold War regionalism is its outward orientation – the importance of the external dimension of regional cooperation. By and large, though, existing analysis of regional institutional development in the Global South does not explicitly conceptualise and theorise collective image consciousness and management. This paper works to address this conceptual gap. Making use of two cases of regional image crisis – post-1980s Africa and post-1997 Southeast Asia – it draws out two primary logics of regional image consciousness: the logic of influence and the logic of resources. A region’s ‘brand’ with respect to (dys)function and international norm (non-)compliance matters to regional actors because it affects the region’s political influence in international arenas and the region’s ability to attract resources from donors and investors.     

Global international relations and the Arab Spring: the Maghreb’s challenge to the EU

Abstract

This article contributes to the Global International Relations project by critically evaluating the roles ascribed to Europe and the EU by Levitsky and Way in their model for explaining regime transitions. Focusing primarily on their international dimensions of linkage and leverage, it assesses both the normative geopolitical underpinnings and explanatory power of their thesis, drawing on the North African cases of Tunisia and Mauritania at the start of the Arab Spring to illustrate and substantiate its observations and arguments. It concludes that the EU’s failure to discipline either country’s competitive authoritarian regime raises important questions about the validity of the privileged role in which they cast Europe.     

取保候审突出问题“三清”难清之思考

以取保候审案件清、保证金底数清、取保候审人员情况为目标的取保候审突出问题专项督察行动,是对取保候审问题的一次全面清理。目前,工作中普遍感到“三清”难清,实有清理之必要,分析“三清”难清的主客观原因,必须着力在加大领导力度、加强部门配合、完善信息系统、规范制度机制、严格督察落实方面下工夫,彻底根除“三清”难清这一顽症。     

Urban unemployment and optimal tax policy in a small,open dual economy

This paper analyses optimal tax policies in a two‐sector model of an LDC, similar to that of Harris and Todaro [1970]. The analysis assumes a small, open economy with a non‐competitive urban wage which depends on prices of both agricultural and manufactured goods. Optimal policies are considered for cases where an employment subsidy in manufacturing and/or taxes on international trade are the only feasible instruments, and where government revenue has an excess burden. Comparisons are made with results obtained by Harris and Todaro, Hagen, and Bhagwati and Srinivasan, for similar models.     

新加坡公共服务模式对我国的启示——基于网络化治理视角的分析

本文以公共行政范式的演变为出发点,提出网络化治理兴起的必然性,并基于网络化治理视角从多元化合作、公共利益导向、政府与民众互信以及相关技术手段等方面对新加坡的公共服务模式进行分析,提出网络化治理视角下新加坡公共服务模式对我国的几点启示。     

My Country,My Country,directed by Laura Poitras,produced by Jocelyn Glatzer and Laura Poitras Iraq in Fragments,directed by James Longley,produced by John Sinno and James Longley

A new form of “entertaining news,” accessed by most through television, has become a privileged domain of politics for the first time in countries “beyond the West” in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. What are the political consequences of this development: What is the relationship between media and politics in these regions? We answer these questions through a case study of India, the world's largest democracy, where two decades of media expansion and liberalization have yielded the largest number of commercial television news outlets in the world. We show why prevailing theories of media privatization and commercialization cannot account for the distinctive architecture of media systems in places like India. In this article, we first provide an overview of the historical and contemporary dynamics of media liberalization in India and the challenges that this poses to existing models and typologies of the media-politics relationship. We then present a new typology of media systems and a theoretical framework for studying the relationship between television news and democratic politics in India, and by extension in the global South. In the concluding section, we reflect on the broader comparative insights of the essay and discuss directions for future research. We believe that our alternative comparative framework captures more meaningfully the diversity and complexity of emerging media systems and their relationships to democratic practice in these regions.     

The moral hazards of neo-liberalism: lessons from the private insurance industry

The key tenets of neo-liberalism regarding risk, governance, and responsibility are critically evaluated through an empirical study of the private insurance industry. Recent tendencies in this industry towards increasing segmentation of consumers regarding risk, and towards an expansion of private policing of insurance fraud, are analysed. The definition of moral hazard is broadened to include all parties in the insurance relationship, not just the insured. Moral hazards embedded in the social organization of private insurance lead to various kinds of immoral risky behaviour by insureds, insurance companies, and their employees, and to intensified efforts to regulate this behaviour. The analysis concludes with some critical observations about the neo-liberal emphasis on minimal state, market fundamentalism, risk-taking, individual responsibility, and acceptance of inequality.     

Double Punishment for Regional and National Incumbents: The March 2012 Regional Election in Andalusia

Confounding predictions, the 2012 Andalusian regional election resulted in a renewal of left-wing government as the conservative Popular Party failed to obtain an absolute majority of seats. The socialists, who had ruled the region for 30 years, came second but continued in power in coalition with the United Left, which increased its seat share. The article argues that the Andalusian election results should be understood in a multi-level governance perspective. For those who voted for the socialists, the hard austerity policies implemented by the Popular Party central government became more salient than the current performance of the regional government. The behaviour of unemployed voters is also key to understanding the election outcome.     

'Good Governance': The Rise and Decline of a Policy Metaphor?

This study aims to explore the conditions under which the criterion of 'good governance' first became adopted as a donor policy metaphor and now seems likely to get eclipsed. Why did it emerge at the time it did, and what, since then, has been its track record? Particular attention will be given in this regard to successive shifts in the relevant policy thinking within the World Bank. Moreover, the study discusses whether good governance is likely to keep drawing the same level of attention as it has done hitherto.     

Grassroots civil society at crossroads: staying on the path to independence or turning onto the UK Government's route to localism?

Within the context of acute public spending cuts and the increasing push towards localism, the UK government is increasingly looking outwards to community- and citizen-led action for solutions to long-term social problems and to take on public services. The extent to which these groups have the capacity and willingness to take on politicised roles beyond their purpose and function is, however, not well understood. By reflecting on findings primarily from a street-level mapping project, in this paper discussion focuses on the potential implications arising from grassroots' co-option.

La société civile au niveau de la base populaire à la croisée des chemins : rester sur le chemin de l'indépendance ou prendre la voie du gouvernement britannique vers le localisme ?

Dans le contexte des profondes coupes sombres opérées dans les dépenses publiques et de la poussée croissante vers le localisme, le gouvernement britannique se tourne de plus en plus vers l'extérieur, vers des actions menées par les communautés et les citoyens pour résoudre les problèmes sociaux à long terme et se charger des services publics. La mesure dans laquelle ces groupes ont les capacités et la volonté nécessaires pour assumer des rôles politisés qui dépassent leur finalité et leur fonction n'est pas, toutefois, bien comprise. En réfléchissant sur les constatations faites principalement dans le cadre d'un projet de cartographie au niveau des rues, la discussion de cet article porte sur les implications potentielles de la cooptation de la base populaire.

La sociedad civil de base en la disyuntiva: ¿mantener el camino de la independencia o tomar la ruta del gobierno del Reino Unido hacia el localismo?

En un contexto de severos recortes en el gasto público y de creciente impulso hacia el localismo, el gobierno del Reino Unido está fomentando cada vez más que las comunidades y los ciudadanos impulsen acciones tendientes a solucionar longevos problemas sociales y que se hagan cargo de los servicios públicos. Sin embargo, no se comprende bien hasta qué punto dichos grupos tienen la capacidad y la disposición de asumir roles politizados más allá de sus objetivos y de su función. A partir de reflexiones en torno a las conclusiones provenientes principalmente de un proyecto de mapeo a nivel de calle, el presente artículo se centra en analizar las posibles implicaciones que podrían surgir de la cooptación de los grupos de base.

Sociedade civil de base na encruzilhada: permanecendo no caminho para a independência ou voltando-se para a rota do governo do Reino Unido em direção ao localismo?

Dentro do contexto de significativos cortes nos gastos públicos e um empenho crescente em direção ao localismo, o governo do Reino Unido está cada vez mais olhando para fora para ações coordenadas pela comunidade – e cidadãos – para soluções de problemas sociais de longo prazo e contratação de serviços públicos. Porém, não se sabe muito bem até que ponto estes grupos têm capacidade e disposição de adotar funções politizadas além de seu propósito e função. Ao refletir sobre os resultados obtidos principalmente a partir de um projeto de mapeamento realizado nas ruas, a discussão deste artigo concentra-se nas implicações em potencial que surgem da opção conjunta de base.