The venturous bid for the independence of Catalonia

Following an ambiguous constitutional compromise for democratization, the territorial decentralization of the Spanish state developed by means of political party competition, exchanges, and bargaining. Hence, the so-called state of autonomies was characterized as “non-institutional federalism” [Colomer, Josep M. 1998. “The Spanish ‘State of Autonomies’: Non-institutional Federalism.” West European Politics 21 (4): 40–52]. In the most recent period, competition and instability have intensified. New developments include, on one side, attempts at recentralizating the state and, on the other side, demands and mobilizations for Catexit, that is, the independence of Catalonia from Spain, which resulted in sustained inter-territorial conflict. This article addresses these recent changes with a focus on the relations between the Spanish and the Catalan governments. The political changes were analyzed as a result of opportunities and incentives offered by a loose institutional framework and the subsequent competitive strategies of extreme party leaders.     

The Neglected Nation: The CSU and the Territorial Cleavage in Bavarian Party Politics

This article examines the continuing salience of the territorial cleavage in Bavarian party politics. It does so through an exploration of the Christian Social Union's (CSU) mobilisation of Bavarian identity as part of its political project, which has forced other parties in Bavaria to strengthen their territorial goals and identities. Parties have articulated different constructions of ‘Bavaria’ to rival the CSU's dominant nation-building project. However, they have been unable to portray themselves as ‘standing up for Bavarian interests’ due to the constraints of the state-wide parties to which they belong. As an exclusively Bavarian party, the CSU has no such constraints. Indeed, the CSU's core aim of strengthening Bavaria's position vis-à-vis the German federation may be viewed as akin to that of the Convergència i Unió in Catalonia, Spirit in Flanders or Plaid Cymru in Wales. Like these parties, the case of the CSU in Bavaria demonstrates that sub-state territorial mobilisation has as much to do with negotiating autonomy within the state as seceding from it. To that end, the CSU provides a valuable case of how a regionalist party operating within a multi-level political system has sought to influence the regional, state and European levels to obtain a comparative territorial advantage.     

Continuity and catastrophe: business continuity management and the security of financial operations

This paper discusses business continuity management (BCM) and its role in contemporary financial institutions. BCM is a nascent disaster preparedness and recovery strategy that seeks to protect vital business operations from disruptions. The paper traces contemporary BCM back to Cold War continuity of government planning, and shows how BCM came to comprehend security as continuity of processes rather than integrity of goods. BCM is prominent in finance because it promises to mitigate operational risks, and it focuses on risks stemming from interdependencies in financial infrastructures. By engaging with two events that triggered continuity management in banks, Hurricane Sandy in New York City and the ‘Blockupy’ demonstrations in Frankfurt, the paper highlights how BCM is challenged by large-scale disasters as well as acts of public criticism.     

Parallel publics? Support for income redistribution in times of economic crisis

This article investigates the dynamics of support for income redistribution in Europe. With European Social Survey data spanning 2006 to 2012, it assesses whether the Great Recession resulted in substantial parallelism or increasing polarisation in preference change across various sub‐publics. After introducing hypotheses based on claims that social groups are affected differently by economic insecurity, the article proceeds in two empirical sections. First, whereas prior research suggests that hard times fuel diverging attitudinal patterns, it is found that income groups, ideological groups and educational groups did not shift differently over time during the first years of the crisis, thus providing strong evidence for the ‘parallel publics’ hypothesis in the European context and in times of economic turmoil. Next, the article addresses the extent to which change in aggregate support for redistribution came from changes in small minorities of the population, supposed to be more responsive to their economic environment. Using multilevel analysis, it is shown that the most educated significantly contributed to the overall change more than the others. As a result, they may have been partly driving the economic mood during the first years of the Great Recession.     

对"省直管县"体制的反思

"省直管县"已经成为行政体制改革的大趋势,但是我们并不主张全国范围内统一实施省直管县。中国与西方国家有很大的区别,西方国家的体制并不一定适应中国的具体情况,不应一切西化。政府层级变化是一个自然的发育过程,只可顺势而为,不可强力推行。在"省直管县"改革过程中各省可因地制宜,自主选择;应该注意把握改革的方式、节奏和速度,切忌操之过急,搞一刀切。     

欧盟过境货物知识产权保护最新态势——兼评欧洲法院“NOKIA”案和“PHILLIPS”案

自2008年10月以来,在欧盟一些海关屡屡发生过境货物遭到扣押的事件,尤其是荷兰海关屡次扣押印度等国的过境药品,引起国际社会的极大关注.英国和比利时法院分别在审理“NOKIA”案和“PHIILIPS”案过程中对过境货物是否扣押产生疑问,并向欧洲法院提出咨询.近期欧洲法院对两案合并审理,做出一项里程碑意义的判决,厘清了过境货物、 “虚拟制造”理论等基本问题,对欧盟海关的知识产权执法和法院司法都有很好的指导作用,对于我国政府和企业也不无裨益.     

欧债危机对欧洲华裔青少年华文教育的影响及其对策

本文分析了欧债危机对欧洲华裔青少年华文教育的主要影响及分析其造成影响的主要原因,从政府、华文学校和华人家庭的视角,为欧洲华裔青少年华文教育的问题提出相应的对策建议。     

Is a Federal European Constitution for an Enlarged European Union Necessary? Some Preliminary Suggestions using Public Choice Analysis

In order to guarantee a further successful functioning of the enlarged European Union a Federal European Constitution is proposed. Six basic elements of a future European federal constitution are developed: the European commission should be turned into a European government and the European legislation should consist of a two chamber system with full responsibility over all federal items. Three further key elements are the subsidiarity principle, federalism and the secession right, which are best suited to limiting the domain of the central European authority to which certain tasks are given, such as defense, foreign and environmental policy. Another important feature is direct democracy, which provides the possibility for European voters to participate actively in political decision making, to break political and interest group cartels, and to prevent an unwanted shifting of responsibilities from EU member states to the European federal level.     

复方守宫散辅助治疗晚期结直肠恶性肿瘤的疗效观察

目的 基于倾向性评分匹配法探讨复方守宫散辅助治疗晚期结直肠恶性肿瘤的疗效。方法 采用倾向性评分匹配法,将匹配成功的70例患者分为对照组（化学治疗）和观察组（复方守宫散联合化学治疗）,每组35例;比较两组患者瘤体客观疗效［客观缓解率（objective response rate,ORR）,疾病控制率（disease control rate,DCR）］、生活质量评分、免疫功能指标、安全性指标,并对生存期进行分析。结果 观察组ORR、DCR优于对照组（P＜0.05）;观察组患者治疗后功能维度（躯体功能、角色功能、情绪功能、认知功能、社会功能）,症状领域（疲劳、疼痛、恶心呕吐）评分改善程度显著优于对照组（P＜0.05）;观察组患者血清CD4+T细胞、CD8+T细胞、自然杀伤细胞水平,CD4+/CD8+均显著高于对照组（P＜0.05）;治疗组患者总不良反应发生率显著低于对照组（P＜0.05）;观察组的中位无进展生存期显著高于对照组（P＜0.05）,中位总生存期高于对照组（P＞0.05）。结论 相较于单纯化学治疗,复方守宫散与化学治疗联合应用能显著提高疗效,增强机体免疫力,改善晚期结直肠癌患者生活质量,降低化学治疗的毒性及不良反应,在一定程度上延长患者生存时间。