Measuring issue-salience in voters' preferences

We provide a new approach to the measurement of issue salience that explains how the salience of an issue among voters and the position of the parties on a given issue interact to each other and determine vote choices and aggregate election results. Analyzing the spatial model of voting, we show how voting probabilities can be estimated by a multinomial logit regression where the ideal policy locations of voters on each issue dimensions are independent variables, and where no individual specific perception about the location of the political parties is used in the regression. The pieces of survey information that are used to calculate issue-salience are: i) specific position of respondents on each issue dimension, ii) vote choice, and iii) the policy position of parties on each issue dimension, which is measured by the mean perceived position. Rather, only an aggregate estimate of party positions on issues is needed. To demonstrate the mechanics and value of the approach, we analyze regional elections in the Basque province of Spain. In that region, we find that the left-right dimension is about two times more salient than nationalism. The nationalism issue is, however, more divisive than the left-right issue. This shows that the issue that voters care more about, may not coincide with the issue on which the parties offer more distinctive policies.     

Voting Advice Applications and the Estimation of Party Positions – A Reliable Tool?

Data contained in Voting Advice Applications (VAA s) is not only a prerequisite for the vote recommendations they provide but can also be used for estimating party positions in low‐dimensional spaces. Given that VAA s can be designed differently in terms of their number of items and their measurement level, how much can one trust the party positions obtained from this source? We tackle this question by exploiting relevant variation in a real‐world setting: three VAA s offered at the 2017 Lower Saxony election. Despite substantial design differences, the policy spaces extracted through an inductive scaling approach are highly convergent. Simulated random item removal from the pooled dataset of all three VAA s furthermore suggests that about 40 items yield satisfactory reliability of the party positions. Finally, we find that a priori assigning VAA ‐items to ideological dimensions is potentially problematic as the interpretation of resulting party spaces may differ from the ones derived inductively.     

关于“安乐死”立法化的理论思考

"安乐死"问题事关生死大事,跨越社会、伦理、法律、医学等学科,争议由来已久。对死亡问题进行哲学思辨,目的在于揭示安乐死的哲学基础并寻求共识。对安乐死问题进行伦理分析和文化兼容性思考,有助于突破安乐死问题中国化所面对的两大障碍。研究并解决好这些问题,是实现安乐死立法化的必由之路。     

Just Use What You Have: Ethical Fashion Discourse and the Feminisation of Responsibility

ABSTRACT

The rise of fast fashion has meant that young women (even those on relatively low incomes) are able to ‘regularly consume and discard fashionable clothing’ [Buckley, Cheryl, and Hazel Clark. 2012. “Conceptualizing Fashion in Everyday Lives.” Design Issues 28 (4): 18–28. doi:10.1162/DESI_a_00172., 21]. While this development may be aligned with the democratisation of fashion—the fact that the supply chains that deliver fast fashion are not consistent with the principles of global democracy is now also relatively common knowledge in the democratised West. This, along with growing awareness of the ecological harms associated with the fashion industry has contributed to what Elke Gaugele [2014. Aesthetic Politics in Fashion. Vienna: Sternberg Press] has termed the ‘ethical turn’ in fashion. However, despite the fact that young women are often not deemed capable of translating their (ethical) attitudes into (ethical) behaviours [McNeill, Lisa, and Rebecca Moore. 2015. “Sustainable Fashion Consumption and the Fast Fashion Conundrum: Fashionable Consumers and Attitudes to Sustainability in Clothing Choice.” International Journal of Consumer Studies 39 (3): 212–222], nor able to be ‘trusted to consistently make good decisions’ [Brooks, Andrew. 2015. Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes. London: Zed Books, 241], they are also increasingly being called to recognise their individual role in the politics of global fashion supply chains. Drawing on examples from scholarly and popular discourses as well as online peer to peer communications, this article explores the historical moment of fast fashion as an instance of both the feminisation of consumption and the feminisation of responsibility.     

当代中国意识形态转型研究述评

意识形态转型是当前中国一个极其重大的研究课题。近年来,学术界主要围绕意识形态转型的动因、特点、历程、路径选择、影响、党和国家领导人在转型中的贡献等问题对当代中国意识形态转型问题进行了研究,取得了一定的成果,但也存在着研究的广度和深度不够、研究方法单一的缺陷。在今后的研究中须进一步拓展研究空间,寻找新的研究方法。     

理性集体主义:国家意识形态的反思与重构

集体主义是社会主义国家意识形态的组成部分,其核心是个体与集体的辩证统一关系和当两者冲突且不可回避与两全时个体利益服从集体利益的必要性与绝对性.集体主义对社会主义国家建设和社会发展产生了重要影响,这体现了共和国选择集体主义的历史必然性和合理性.但集体主义在理论层面和实践领域都存在缺陷,这些缺陷随着社会的发展和人们自我意识...     

伦理实体:道德教化的社会环境支持

人们在讨论道德教化问题时,一般都认为只要制定一套合理的道德原则和道德规范,教育人们遵守执行,就能提高人们的道德水平。而实际上,道德教化是人的内在心灵的整体生长,所以需要社会的伦理环境的支持、营养。因此使人们的生活共同体成为伦理实体,对道德教化来说是绝对必需的。     

党的十六大报告提出的新思想

十六大报告在“七一”讲话创新的基础上 ,又有了新的发展 ,提出了许多新思想 ,主要包括 :全面贯彻“三个代表”的“关键在坚持与时俱进、核心在保持党的先进性、本质在坚持执政为民” ;“必须把发展作为执政兴国的第一要务” ;把“与时俱进”同“解放思想、实事求是”一起作为党的思想路线的基本内容 ;在新世纪我们遇到了一个求发展的“战略机遇期” ;在本世纪头二十年“基本实现工业化、大力推进信息化、加强建设现代化” ;“发展社会主义民主政治 ,建设社会主义政治文明” ;必须用“三个代表”重要思想统领社会主义文化建设 ;以改革精神推进党的建设 ,不断为党的肌体注入新活力。     

大众文化的僭越与文化领导权重构

大众文化不断越界向其他文化类型和领域侵蚀,在日常生活领域建构了文化霸权。它在当下的显现方式不是意识形态似的强制灌输,而是一种自愿基础上的同意和服从。面对这一情形,主导文化要善于借鉴,要认识到它既是全球化平台上文化帝国主义实施文化侵蚀的手段,也是发展中国家规范其他文化、增强社会核心价值凝聚力的方式。执政党亦须以文化的方式牢牢掌握文化领导权。     

构建社会主义和谐社会的伦理价值

党的十六届四中全会提出的构建社会主义和谐社会的科学命题，蕴含着丰富的伦理价值指向，表征着和谐理念的创新与和谐社会建设的具体实践，鲜明地彰显了建设有中国特色社会主义的伦理价值，必将给人民大众带来更大发展与福祉。