The (Partisan) Role of the Press in Direct Democratic Campaigns: Evidence from a Swiss Vote on European Integration

Abstract: This article analyzes the role of the press in direct democratic campaigns. The paper argues the press has a dual role: On news pages, newspapers ought to inform citizens about the issue positions and frames of the pro and con camps in a balanced way. In editorials, newspapers act as political advocates that promote their own issue frames and try to shape public opinion through voting recommendations. Comparing the issue positions and frames in editorials and news reports in the run‐up to the vote on the popular initiative “Yes to Europe” in Switzerland, this article shows that newspapers give similar visibility to the pro and con camps regardless of the papers’ own editorial position. However, some newspapers favor issue frames that are in line with their editorial perspectives. In conclusion, newspapers are more similar in news report content than in editorial views.     

参与式治理与根本政治制度的生活化——“一体多元”与国家微观民主的建设

政治制度本质上是一种关于利益和权利义务的关系组合。这种关系组合影响到人们对制度的合作或者冲突。因为观念和利益的多元化,社会成员与制度的冲突引发了高发的群体性事件。因此,解决当前公共治理问题,关键是要考虑体制改进。通过落实宪法所规定的人民代表大会制与民众直接参与式治理的结合,可以提升微观民主建设的质量,保障多元民主,为宏观民主治理提供制度基础。     

历史唯物主义重建之下的民主观念

伍德把民主视为超越资本主义的一种力量。她虽然肯定在资本主义条件下,政治民主有所发展,但更为根本的是,经济并不是民主的,而是充满压迫与强制的。因此,民主的发展,必然要超出资本主义社会。为此,她对历史唯物主义的一些基本范畴进行了重新思考,包括经济"基础"与上层建筑的关系。她不同意把经济与政治视为截然分离的两个领域,而是把资本主义社会所特有的这种分离视为资本主义本身政治功能的分化。伍德的民主理论,是力图从马克思主义视角来回应当代资本主义的民主理论,与所谓的后马克思主义有着重大的差别。     

中国宪政的文化分析

在生成背景上,儒家的人性观是造成宪政发育因素的先天缺失,也是后天培养宪政观念的困境所在;中国语境里的宪政已经不是限制权力、保障权利的一种信念力量,特殊的民族历史造就了宪政工具主义观;后发型现代国家使得人们对宪政内容与结果的认识上含混不清,及至造成对宪政建设的忽视。     

Can't get no satisfaction with the Westminster model? Winners,losers and the effects of consensual and direct democratic institutions on satisfaction with democracy

Are citizens in consensus democracies with developed direct democratic institutions more satisfied with their political system than those in majoritarian democracies? In this article, individual‐level data from the second wave of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and an updated version of Lijphart's multivariate measure of consensus and majoritarian democracy covering 24 countries are used to investigate this question. The findings from logistic multilevel models indicate that consensual cabinet types and direct democratic institutions are associated with higher levels of citizens' satisfaction with democracy. Furthermore, consensus democracy in these institutions closes the gap in satisfaction with democracy between losers and winners of elections by both comforting losers and reducing the satisfaction of winners. Simultaneously, consensus democracy in terms of electoral rules, the executive–legislative power balance, interest groups and the party system reduces the satisfaction of election winners, but does not enhance that of losers.     

In Praise of Social Democracy

This article makes the case for social democracy in the context of difficult national and international economic conditions and changes in domestic politics that see a Conservative‐dominated Coalition government and the Labour party in Opposition for the first time since 1997. It rejects much current thinking in the Labour party and instead argues that traditional social democratic values, such as equality and social justice, are of contemporary relevance and can only be achieved through a strong central state committed to those values.     

Reflections on experimentalist governance

This article critically engages with Sabel and Zeitlin's important notion of experimentalist governance (EG). It is cast as a “recursive process of provisional goal‐setting and revision based on learning from the comparison of alternative approaches to advancing them in different contexts.” This is a useful heuristic device to capture policymaking and implementation in complex, dynamic, and highly diverse political entities. This article discusses the micro‐foundations underpinning EG, how it relates to hierarchical modes of governing, and how well it captures the distinctive traits of the EU. It also discusses EG from a democratic perspective. In democratic terms EG is understood as a form of direct deliberative polyarchy. This article notes that the question of EG's contribution to democratization cannot, however, be adequately addressed unless we pay more systematic attention to representation and representative democracy.     

论反司法审查观的“民主解药”

反对司法审查的学者分别从规范体系、实证经验和因果关系的角度论证司法审查制度的不合时宜。在此基础上,他们提出通过民主来保障人权。虽然民主被官方所认可且有较强的可接受性,并在一定程度上被践行,但以民主观反对司法审查的论者并没有对民主进行清晰的界定,也没有对如何实现民主、如何证明民主的效用、实行民主的成本与收益提出建设性观点。他们理论试错的态度和行为值得肯定,但他们在反对把司法审查当作“最后一根救命稻草”的时候,有意无意地把民主也当作了“最后一根救命稻草”。     

组合式选举:党内公推直选的模式选择与体制约束

公推直选是近年来党内民主发展的突出标志。作为基层党组织选举改革的主导方法,公推直选带有"组合式"选举的特征,它实现了竞争性选举与组织选拔制度的结合,组织选拔、群众参与和党员选举的组合,以及党内民主对人民民主的带动。然而,这一选举模式也潜在地隐含着竞争选举与组织选拔、党内民主与人民民主的内在张力。推动公推直选改革的深入,需要不断规范公推直选的操作机制,推进公推直选的制度化及配套制度建设,同时要适时地推进公推直选在地方党委的试点工作,不断拓展公推直选的适用范围。     

选人用人机制科学化的三个理论问题

本文在对近年来干部人事制度改革主要措施分析的基础上,提出当前推进选人用人机制科学化,必须解决三个方面的深层次理论问题：一是要认清我国公务员队伍作为执政群体的政治属性,从体现公务员队伍政治代表功能的角度,确立多样化的选人标准和选拔方式;二是要从科学配置干部任用权的角度,从提名权主体多元化的误区中摆脱出来;三是要对群众在干部选拔任用中的作用有科学定位,厘清干部选拔任用中民主的形式和限度。