Freedom,Choice and Public Well-Being: Some Psychological Perspectives

Optimization of well being with minimal regulations seems like a reasonable goal. The problems (and recent progress) in measuring well being are described. The complex meanings of freedom are discussed, with a contrast between “actual” and perceived freedom. Then, the limitations of humans as decision makers in the current complex world in which decisions may have global impact, are described. For the domain of regulations related to food and public health, it is noted that our current scientific knowledge is limited, and policy is influenced by political as well as scientific factors. The risks of misguided regulations are substantial. Finally, the determinants of decisions are described, with particular emphasis on moralization: the historical conversion of a preference into a moral value, as with cigarette smoking in the United States. The consequences and causes of moralization are considered.     

Local Autonomy, Local Democracy and the 'New Localism'

Most studies of local autonomy and local democracy fail to distinguish adequately between the two terms. As a consequence, there is an assumed bilateral relationship between them in which changes in one are always deemed to affect the other – particularly in policy formulations. This article develops a stronger analytical distinction between them by considering local autonomy in three separate ways: as freedom from central interference; as freedom to effect particular outcomes; and as the reflection of local identity . Each of these conceptualisations raises different challenges for local democracy and its relationship to broader forms of democratic practice. When used to analyse the recent emergence of the 'new localism' as a policy approach within Britain, this separation also shows significant limitations in current policies towards democratic renewal and central policies that are supposedly focused on outcomes rather than processes. Although localities are being afforded some autonomy, most initiatives are not supporting the enhancement of local democracy.     

'The Possible as the Art of Politics': Understanding Consensus Politics

Drawing on the Kuhnian model of scientific paradigms, this article suggests consensus politics should be conceptualised not as an agreement or a settlement but as a political framework that derives from an ideationally informed policy paradigm. Such a consensus constrains the auto-nomy of governing elites, encouraging them to conform to an established policy agenda that defines the 'mainstream' wherein 'the possible is the art of politics'. In Britain, as demonstrated by the replacement of a post-war social democratic paradigm by a contemporary neo-liberal successor, periods of policy continuity and incremental reform have been matched by occasions of dramatic political change. Any appreciation of consensus politics has therefore to explain change as well as account for stability, something considerably under emphasised in the existing literature. Consensus politics are therefore best defined as a constrained space within which politics is conducted and political actors differ, a paradigmatic framework from which political outcomes emerge, and never as an agreement freely entered into. Looking at consensus politics beyond the much commented upon post-war example, this article uses British politics since 1945 as an exemplar of consensus politics and an illustration of how a consensus can be forged, how it can endure and how it may change.     

关于创新的理论思考

创新的内涵十分丰富 ,主要包括理论创新、制度创新和科技创新 ,从本质上讲 ,它是一种自由自觉的创造性活动。创新的方法虽然呈现出多样化 ,但也有共同的规律可以把握 ,如实事求是的方法、辩证扬弃的方法、系统整合的方法、内外统一的方法。创新是人的能动性、积极性和创造性的发挥。因此 ,要激发人们的创新能力 ,必须营造必要的人文环境和社会氛围。     

Globalization, Gender, and Work: Perspectives on Global Regulation

abstract This article proposes a working definition of globalization, which, although recognizing power asymmetries and risks, focuses on the changing options of actors. I link globalization to the options of diverse actors such as feminist networks and supranational and state institutions and enterprises. These options are related to resources, power, and capacities. The United Nations Decades of Women provided a dramatically opening opportunity structure for the global women's movement that could enlarge and diversify their options. They had developed a common charter while respecting differences and capacities for global orientation. Finally, I illustrate the argument by looking at processes of feminist regulations, which were negotiated by women's movements in Japan and Germany. Both cases suggest that negotiations and regulations in the global context are possible from an asymmetric position and that innovative capacities for transnational and global orientation and horizontal organization are crucial. Further research is necessary on innovative and egalitarian forms of regulation in globalization.     

Norwegian Politics of Abortion: Perspectives, Arguments, and Values

Grid-group cultural theory is applied to an empirical analysis of five debates on abortion in the Norwegian Parliament between 1992 and 1996. Policy arguments concerning selective abortion and abortion in general are compared. In the cultural–theoretical literature, restrictive policy arguments towards abortion have been connected to the hierarchical cultural bias, whereas permissive policy arguments have been associated with egalitarian and individualistic worldviews. The empirical analysis, however, shows that there are various different connections between abortion policy arguments and cultural biases. The possibly contradictory situation that arises when parties switch between cultural biases is discussed, and the article concludes that grid-group cultural theory proves useful in relating the various abortion policy arguments to broader worldviews that transcend this particular policy issue.     

Theoretical Perspectives in Analyzing Ideological Change and Persistence: The Case of Swedish Social Democratic Party Ideology*

This article deals with analytical approaches to the problem of change and persistence in party ideologies. After examining a number of theoretical perspectives, the article suggests an additional approach and argues that one of its major advantages is that it offers a possibility to combine significant features of several existing perspectives. The proposed approach focuses on the functions of party ideology. The thesis here is that the development of an ideology is shaped by its functions. Contrary to numerous writers who view ideological functions in dichotomous terms, I argue that the functions of ideology are multiple. The possible functions of party ideology are outlined, and a distinction is introduced between the intellectual and tactical functions of ideology. The article then comments on how tactical functions contribute to ideological change and persistence by examining the case of Swedish Social Democratic ideology.     

行政区划改革:视角、路径及评价

本文认为,当前有关行政区划改革的讨论,因急于开药方,而模糊了行政区划改革背后的逻辑。为此,本文在梳理现有代表性观点的基础上,从视角、路径两个层面,剖析行政区划改革背后的逻辑。本文认为当前行政区划改革的探讨主要有两种视角,即管理幅度与管理层次、行政区与经济区关系的视角,视角不同行政区划改革路径也不同,并对相应行政区划改革方案进行了针对性评价。最后,本文指出,要更科学地探讨行政区划改革,必须把握时代特征。     

The Indonesian 'New Order' as New Sovereign Space: Its Creation and Narrative of Self-concealment

This paper introduces and clarifies Carl Schmitt's analytical insights on emergencies and outlines their relevance in considerations of the creation of new sovereign spaces and polities. It then argues that Schmitt's analytical perspective may be used to understand recent and ongoing attempts by collective political actors to resolve circumstances of political and spatial unfamiliarity in East Asia. The tragic events of 30 September-1 October 1965 are examined in Indonesia's case. When perceived as an emergency, their resolution led to outcomes that were both anticipated by and beyond Schmitt's theoretical expectations. The most significant (and theoretically expected) outcomes of this historic moment - de facto sovereignty and a secure space - were so novel in the Indonesian context that their military creators were constrained to hide this fact. They did so by authoring a self-concealing narrative of both the moment itself and the political nature of the resulting 'New Order' polity. While the phenomenon of the self-concealing historical narrative was not anticipated in Schmitt's thinking, its appearance in the Indonesian case is, paradoxically, the clearest evidence of the occurrence of an emergency. Moreover, the creation and perpetuation of the new space by the emergency-ending actor, as well as the sovereign power to decide matters of identity and substance for this polity, matter more than the historical accuracy or longevity of the narrative designed to obscure their essence.     

An Organization of the Theoretical Perspectives in the Field of Civic and Political Participation: Contributions to Citizenship Education

This article provides a review of the theoretical perspectives on civic and political participation. Four distinct views were identified in the literature: (a) The orthodox view: “Civic and political participation are always positive”; (b) The broad view: “Civic and political participation are multidimensional”; (c) The qualitative view: “Civic and political participation are not always good”; and (d) The nonconformist view: “The need to redeem the political dimension of participation.” This article intends to sophisticate simplistic assumptions about civic and political participation and to provide an original organization of the theoretical perspectives in this field. Based on this analysis, this article presents suggestions for an alternative approach to citizenship education.     

Understanding NHS Reform: The Policy-Transfer, Social Learning, and Path-Dependency Perspectives

This paper utilizes three perspectives in analyzing health policy in the U.K. during the formulation of the "internal market" reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s: policy transfer, social learning, and path-dependency. By doing so, it attempts to incorporate the most significant insights from each perspective to construct a framework for analysis that better illuminates the actors, processes, and constraints involved in health policy reform, as well as providing a means of assessing its importance. I suggest that the reform process in the U.K. was considerably more complex than most existing accounts suggest, and that notions such as "conjuncture" require caution in their usage in order to avoid confusion between the contingent and relatively permanent factors that allow reform to occur.     

台湾廉政反贪研究的议题、特色与展望

廉政反贪研究是近年来台湾地区公共管理研究者高度重视的议题之一,也有相当丰硕的成果。整体而言,台湾廉政反贪研究呈现出掌握全球发展脉动、解决本地问题的研究导向、跨学科的观察视角、验证导向的调查研究、研究层级对象层面广等特色。然而在研究方法、内容或是对象上,仍有值得进一步拓展的空间。