The Strategic Timing behind Position-taking in the US Congress: A Study of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act

Roll call voting by members of the US Congress has been frequently studied. In contrast, the various decisions leading up to roll call voting are relatively unexplored. This article analyses one of those decisions: when senators announce their final passage vote intention. The authors use the same set of variables to analyse both the timing of the announcement and the final passage vote. They find that different independent variables predict these two different decisions, though the constituency and the senator's institutional setting matter in both. Furthermore, this study corroborates an assumption in the rational choice literature that those members with the most information are the first movers.     

Congressional dysfunction: An information processing perspective

The public's approval of Congress is at an all time low. The parties seem to have taken the legislative process hostage for their own electoral gain. Whereas traditional arguments about congressional dysfunction focus on polarized voting coalitions or outputs – particularly legislation – in this article we highlight congressional information processing and how it has changed in this highly partisan era. By coding congressional hearings according to the kind of information on which they focus, we find that members of Congress are receiving one‐sided information to a greater degree and are spending less time learning about potential solutions. We use these results to make numerous recommendations for improving how Congress gathers its information.     

Parliamentary Rule: The US Senate Parliamentarian and Institutional Constraints on Legislator Behaviour

This article analyses the extent to which institutional rules constrain member behaviour in the United States Senate by examining the evolution of its parliamentarian. Interestingly, the US Senate parliamentarian has received surprisingly little scholarly attention given the important role she performs in the legislative process. The subsequent analysis thus provides a new understanding of the parliamentarian's role in the legislative process and the interplay between institutional rules and member behaviour in the Senate. To this end, the following analysis is situated within the context of the two primary theoretical approaches to understanding how institutional rules constrain member behaviour: path dependency and majoritarianism. These contrasting approaches provide expectations about the extent to which members will defer to the parliamentarian's interpretation of Senate rules rather than exercising their own discretionary control over those rules. Examining the evolving relationship between the parliamentarian and individual members affirms the centrality of institutional rules as a constraint on member behaviour over the past several decades. Yet such an examination also yields two surprising, and potentially contradictory, observations. First, individual senators in both parties have increasingly deferred to the parliamentarian to interpret the Senate's rules. This is surprising given that the Senate has simultaneously become more individualistic, partisan, and ideological over the same period. Second, the majority party has recently disregarded the norm of parliamentary constraint reflected in past practice and demonstrated a willingness to ignore Senate rules when doing so was necessary to achieve legislative success. This could signify a potential shift in how majorities view the constraints imposed by Senate rules if current trends of legislative dysfunction continue.     

十八大以来中国外交新动向

党的十八大以来,以习近平为总书记的新一届中央领导集体利用一系列重要场合就国际形势与中国外交发表讲话,不断充实和发展新时期中国对外战略思想。新一届中央领导集体采取的一系列举措为下一步中国的外交谋篇布局,体现了新思想,谋划了新布局,也预示了未来中国外交的方向。     

十七大后我国环境资源立法走向研究

由于我国现阶段所面临的环境资源形势比以往更加严峻,我国将在十七大之后实行更加紧缩的环境资源政策,利用自然资源和环境的价格将更加昂贵,程序将更加严格;在充分利用行政管理手段的同时,市场手段和经济手段也将发挥更大的作用。与此同时,我国的环境资源立法工作必将进一步加强,环境资源法理论研究工作与立法的实际工作必须紧密结合,以共同完成"十七大后环境资源立法"这样一个重大的时代课题。     

中关群体性事件预警指标比较研究——关于建立符合中国社会安全和治安管理特性预警体系的思考

从中美群体性事件预警指标的研究情况可看出,群体性事件预警研究是服务于国家行政的,研究结果不公开发表;研究应由公立、中立研究机构承担;须长期追踪调查公众的社会态度;需要多学科学者参与。要建立符合中国社会安全和治安管理特性的预警体系应该做到：由各级党委、政府成立“社会治安综合治理预警中心”,确立、编制群体性事件预警指标等。     

美国国会议员访台现象研究(1997～2008)

台湾地区是美国国会议员访问最频繁的地区之一。本文分析了从1997年到2008年的美国国会议员访台记录分布及其决定因素,获得了如下主要发现:第一,美国国会议员访台频次变动受台湾岛内政治变动和美国国会选举周期影响,但以前者更为重要;第二,《与台湾关系法》赋予美国国会及其议员干预台湾问题的权力,是造成美国国会议员、特别是外交事务、军事、情报等委员会成员频繁访台的根本原因;第三,意识形态、选区利益、经贸关系等对美国国会议员访台也产生了一定的影响。     

中美双边投资协定对中国经济的影响——基于美国双边投资协定范本(2004)的分析

中美双边投资协定将是2010年在北京进行的、两国第二轮战略与经济对话的主要关注点之一。通过分析比较中美双边投资协定可能给中国带来的收益与冲击,本文认为,如果在美国双边投资协定范本(2004)基础上达成该协定,不仅难以达到促进中美间直接投资和证券投资增长的目的,而且会使中国在外资准入限制与资金跨境流动管理方面面临巨大的风险。     

冷战后新保守主义影响美国对华政策的主要手段

美国新保守主义的外交思想及政策具有浓厚的意识形态色彩和强烈的进攻性。冷战后,新保守主义者仍然固守冷战思维,鼓吹“中国威胁论”,主张对华奉行强硬的“遏制政策”。他们通过参与政治实践;操纵媒体、引导舆论;控制国会、影响立法等手段影响政府的对华政策,使布什政府的对华政策具有明显的新保守主义特征。     

以党的二十大精神引领劳动教育高质量发展——中国劳动教育100年的总结与展望

劳动教育对于中国式现代化具有基础性、战略性支撑作用。回眸历史,中国百年劳动教育的发展经历了萌芽起步、探索推进、稳步发展、创新飞跃四个阶段,分别呈现出为政治动员服务、为生产建设和阶级斗争服务、为经济发展服务、为素养教育服务的价值侧重。总结百年历史演变,劳动教育在发展完善过程中,始终将党的科学理论作为指导思想、将时代的迫切需要作为发展方向、将多样的教育形式作为重点要求,这为劳动教育的继续开展提供了借鉴。展望未来,在剖析劳动教育发展的复杂形势和根本任务的基础上,应明确劳动教育的地位、确立人全面发展的价值目标、坚持劳动与教育相结合的本质底色、构建多方共育的教育格局,从而发挥劳动教育在实现中国式现代化中的重要支撑作用,为中国式现代化培根、筑基、育人。