党务公开：发展党内民主的理论和制度创新

党的十六届四中全会《决定》首次明确提出逐步推进党务公开,这是党的执政理念的新突破和提高党的执政能力的新举措。党务公开是发展党内民主的内在要求,贯穿于党内民主建设的各个方面和环节。推进党务公开,进一步扩大了党员和群众对党内事务的知情权、参与权、选择权和监督权,成为新时期发展党内民主的理论和制度创新。     

泰罗的科学管理理论对地方政府危机管理的启示

目前,我国地方政府在危机管理的意识、专业人才、协调机制、制度建设以及社会动员能力等方面均存在较大缺陷。借鉴泰罗的科学管理原理,有针对性地采取各种措施,对提高我国地方政府的危机管理水平具有十分重要的现实意义。     

试析中国政治体制改革的任务、经验及目标模式

中国现行政体是作为现代民主政体两种基本类型之一的人民民主政体.中国政治体制改革的基本任务是发展、完善现行人民民主政体,而非将其彻底否定,以自由民主政体取而代之.中国政治体制改革的一个成功经验,就是社会主义国家政治体制改革必须遵循坚持、发展、完善人民民主政体的原则.中国政治体制的目标模式应当是一种新型的人民民主政体,即以"坚持党的领导、人民当家作主和依法治国有机统一"为基本特征的新型人民民主政体.     

论司法权运行的民主性——以自组织理论为分析工具

自组织理论作为研究自然界复杂性现象和事物的方法和工具，也应该适用于广义自然界下的人类社会这一复杂系统。比较可以发现，作为人类社会子系统的司法权运行系统，存在开放性、两造的非平衡性结构、证据裁判及非线性攻防特征，这与自组织的四个基本条件是吻合的，或者说司法权运行系统具有自组织性。同时，司法权运行中所必备的整体性视野、非决定论思想和不可逆理念也与自组织理论的哲学特性契合。司法民主是司法权运行系统的自组织性体现。以自组织理论分析司法权的运行，可以避免比较法、逻辑理性等法学视域的狭隘，为司法民主寻找更为客观的社会学和自然科学意义上的根据。     

选人用人科学化的再思考

按照"党的建设科学化"这一重大命题的逻辑,研究和思考选人用人科学化具有重要的理论价值和现实意义。实现选人用人科学化,必须针对选人用人上存在的瓶颈问题,大力推进选人用人制度改革,不断提高选人用人科学化水平。同时,要建立和依靠科学的制度,为选人用人科学化提供基本保障。     

论民主的经济价值

民主不是权利，而是内在于民众的权力；所以，民主是民众群体的存在方式和民众个体的生活样式。近代以来的历史经验表明。民主的发展层次与国家经济的发展状况呈现正向的关系，同时，民主更是确保国家经济可持续发展的制度保障。     

Unconditional Transfers Are Not Oil: The Economic Foundations of Subnational Undemocratic Regime Reproduction

Extant research on rentierism claims that oil royalties and unconditional transfers are among the main factors sustaining subnational undemocratic regimes (SURs). This article claims that these revenues are insufficient to economically reproduce SUR, as subnational rentier states generally overspend beyond their means. Drawing on evidence from Argentina, we identify two pathways to SUR reproduction. First, rulers in resource-rich provinces rely on ‘hidden rents’ from local extractive industries to sustain long-term spending. Second, rulers in resource-poor provinces heavily subsidised by fiscal institutions resort to discretionary grants from presidents to reproduce their political regimes.     

Grounds for self-government? Changes in land ownership and democratic participation in Chinese communities

Do variations in land ownership affect people’s democratic participation? Quantitative, cross-country research on this topic suffers from the non-comparability of regulatory systems and cultures, and the use of crude indicators to identify participation. This study attempts to overcome these methodological problems, by employing indicators of procedural and substantive participation in a structured, diachronic comparison of qualitative data from five sites in China – an authoritarian state, which, however, requires residents of urban communities and villages to participate in ‘self-government’. It examines whether and why changing land from collective ownership to state ownership, and residents’ compensated acquisition of cash and secure, fungible assets, strengthens or weakens participation in self-government. In the research sites, collective land ownership is found to stimulate participation in self-government. Transformation of the land to state ownership and people’s acquisition of private property weakens participation. The robust results of the study support the direction of a causal argument that collective land ownership is conducive to democratic participation. These findings imply that scholars and policymakers should consider the potentially adverse political consequences of changing land ownership. A further implication is that, absent substantial political reform, an urbanized China might be less rather than more democratic at the community level.     

Strategic or Principled? The Engagement of Civil Society Organizations with the EU

This article links the literature on the Europeanization of civil society organizations (CSOs) with the literature on the contribution CSOs can make to democracy in the EU. To do so, it asks which are the pull factors that support CSOs’ Europeanization: are they mostly strategic and linked to where law-making and the money are? Or are they likewise linked to a desire to contribute to EU democracy? To explore this question, the article looks at agricultural, environmental and anti-poverty groups and combines fresh qualitative with quantitative data. The findings suggest that we need to distinguish strategic Europeanization, on the one hand, from the identification with supranational democracy, on the other. They also show that the most Europeanized organizations need not be the most interested in EU democracy, whereas organizations with a comparatively low degree of Europeanization can still be interested in EU democracy.     

Managing Social Risk in China Local Administration: An Examination of SSRA Initiative

Social Stability Risk Assessment (SSRA) sponsored by the local administration is perceived as a socially defined risk-coping initiative since it became mandatory in China. This article observes and unravels SSRA practices by selecting Xuzhou municipality as a sample case. Findings show that local SSRA is operated by the tridimensional mechanism and antecedents of its effectiveness in enforcement are linked with multiple elements of administrative supports. The findings contribute to a full understanding of SSRA in mainland China where there is no electoral democratic regime, and provide implications for developing countries alike. Some recommendations are proposed as a potential driver of these results.