评析奥巴马的缅甸之行

美国总统奥巴马成功连任后，于2012年11月19日对缅甸进行了历史性访问，成为第一位访问缅甸的美国总统，引起世界的瞩目。奥巴马访问缅甸表达了美国政府对缅甸政治改革的奖励和支持，对争取与西方逐步重建关系的缅甸政府来说，意义重大。     

美国大法官在纠结

如果判决不利于政府,意味着奥巴马的医疗改革努力前功尽弃。遇到选举之年,美国总统也是要讲政绩的。医疗业在美国占到国民经济总值的六分之一,2012年奥巴马竞选总统连任,把医疗保险改革当作头等大事来抓,力促国会通过了《可承受医疗法》。没有医疗保险的美国人约为3200万,占到人口的八分之一。《可承受医疗法》的关键内容是,所     

美国2008年大选与奥巴马政府的政策趋向

本文在对美国2008年大选奥巴马和民主党获胜的原因进行分析的基础上,探讨了大选结果对美国政治和社会的影响,以及奥巴马政府内外政策的趋向.文章认为,2008年大选是美国选举政治史上最引人瞩目的一次历史性的选举.奥巴马获胜的主要原因是美国金融危机引发的经济严重衰退,选民对布什处理伊拉克、阿富汗战争的不满,以及奥巴马作为美国有史以来第一位非洲裔总统竞选人所激起的黑人、拉美裔和年轻选民的投票热情.大选的结果将对美国政治走向和美国社会的种族关系产生重要和深远的影响.中左将是今后四年美国政治的基本走向.民主党16年来第一次同时控制白宫和国会、公众的期望和支持率高,这些为奥巴马政府实施其内外政策主张提供了有利的条件,但它仍然面临诸多严峻的挑战.     

改变

Change(改变)是四年前奥巴马竞选美国总统时的口号。这个简单的单词是奥巴马给出的承诺,给美国选民带来了期待,也投合了他们对现状的厌倦情绪。这一切最终把奥巴马送进了白宫。大家都期待改变,因为改变真的很难。四年后,奥巴马再次投入总统竞选的时候,最大的变化也许是他在四年任期里迅速变白的头发。2012年,很多国家都进行了...     

“精准医疗计划”能改变什么?

真正的精准医疗是先掌握基因组信息,一旦出现疾病症状就可以针对性治疗,甚至预防疾病的发生。近期的医学网络热词,莫过于“精准医疗”了,因为给它做广告的是美国总统奥巴马,而在奥巴马身后,是现任NIH（美国国立卫生研究院）的主任Francis Collins和NCI（美国国家癌症研究所）的所长Harold E．Varmus两位大牛。     

对奥巴马现象的政治文化思考

本文从"历史的政治"角度出发,探讨在美国历史上第一位黑人总统竞选人贝拉克·奥巴马赢得总统大选,对于美国政治与社会文化所具有的里程碑意义.奥巴马胜选既是共和党执政8年导致的政治与经济困境所致,也得益于他的多民族多文化出身背景.奥巴马的成功,加快了美国老一代黑人领袖向新一代黑人领袖的代际过渡,还表明在美国社会的种族关系已经有了长足的进步.但是,以黑自种族划分的美国政治格局并未彻底改变,这预示着奥巴马成为美国总统之后,将不得不致力于一种种族和阶级平衡的社会政策.     

2014年美国中期选举与新一届国会对华政策走向

2014年美国中期选举是一次针对奥巴马执政绩效的民意公投,也是一次有利于共和党的选举回摆。在中期选举历史惯性、选举议题发散分布、奥巴马民众满意度低迷,以及共和党竞选策略奏效等因素的交互影响下,共和党得以在国会两院占据多数席位,与奥巴马政府形成所谓的"强分立"府会格局。基于这一状况,美国国内政治对峙与极化的态势将会延续下去,新一届国会将继续与奥巴马在内政外交领域展开缠斗,这无疑扭曲着国家利益,令美式民主陷入深深的迷思。就对华政策而言,新一届国会将延续其扰乱中美关系稳步、健康发展的"不和谐背景音"角色:在分立府会下共和党主导的国会可能在经贸和军事安全意义上助力奥巴马的"亚太再平衡"战略,在经贸、中国周边安全、人权等议题上为中美关系带来不必要的成本;而关键委员会及其领导层、关键非正式连线组织、关键涉华议员的调整与变动,也在一定程度上增加了国会采取消极涉华行为的可能性。     

“他叔”奥巴马:再看你四年

成功卫冕美国总统后,奥巴马在Twitter上写道:"又四年(Four more years)。"短短三个字,浓缩了太多情绪。今年这一仗,奥巴马打得不轻松,几次差点被罗姆尼盖过锋芒,最后总算扳回局面。过去这四年,总统当得也不省心,经济、医改、失业三大魔咒,共和党的反击,茶党的崛起,让奥巴马和他所领导的民主党在2010年...     

美国人工智能战略探析

人工智能是引领未来的前沿性、战略性技术,正在推动人类社会从互联网和大数据时代迈向智能时代,实现社会生活形态的重大变革。作为当前全球人工智能研究领域的领导者,美国将智能技术的发展视为国家总体发展战略的重要组成部分。从奥巴马到特朗普,美国政府颁布了一系列战略文件和行政命令来指导人工智能的发展。美国人工智能战略的重点包括重视人才培养,加强公私合作研发,推动人工智能军事化应用和强化国际合作。应对世界主要国家和地区的科技竞争、促进经济繁荣和保障国家安全,是美国关注人工智能技术进步的主要动因。当前,美国的人工智能战略还面临一系列挑战,包括政府与私营企业的合作存在障碍、科技人才短缺,以及人工智能军备竞赛导致安全困境。鉴于国际形势和美国实力的变化,抛弃冷战思维并加强国际合作,美国智能技术才能健康发展。     

奥巴马七宗罪

虽然选前民意调查结果显示奥巴马和罗姆尼齐头并进,但是我非常有信心,在经过非常失败的四年之后,美国选民不会再给奥巴马另一个机会了。像很多在美国的中国人一样,我最初也是因为希拉里才对奥巴马心生反感的。在2008年的总统大选中,希拉里通过电视辩论和各种选举活动,展示出了卓越的领导能力,在华人中吸引了包括我在内的众多"稀饭"...     

Fighting with Goliath: The reform of the public health care insurance scheme in Germany,its potential to increase employment and alternative models of reform

Faced with steadily growing expenditures of the public health care insurance companies, rising statutory contributions for health care insurance and constantly high unemployment, the German government decided to introduce a reform of the public health care insurance scheme that came into force in January 2004. The first part of this paper discusses the reasons for the reform and presents its central elements. Since the reform was introduced to contribute to an increase of legal employment by a reduction of statutory contributions to the public health care scheme, I will discuss the reform's potential to increase employment. In the next step the paper illustrates alternative models of health care reform (citizen's scheme and individual health care premium) and compares their potential for job growth. Although the health care reform of the government considers both the need to reduce statutory contributions to public health care insurance and to ease income tax in order to compensate for higher individual payments for medical treatment, its potential for job growth is limited because it lacks support from the health care bureaucracy and the pharmaceutical industry. A reform of welfare state politics resembles a fight with a Goliath made up of powerful interest groups, a reluctant bureaucracy and uncertain socio-economic outcomes.     

The Politics of Retrenchment: The Quandaries of Social Protection Under Military Rule in Chile, 1973–1990

Chile's military government replaced the country's universalistic social policy system with a set of market-oriented social policies. Taking evidence from three areas (pensions, education, and health care), this study seeks to explain why the military advanced a policy of deep retrenchment and why reform of health care was less thorough than it was in pensions and education. The radical transformation of policy relates to the breadth of power concentration enjoyed by General Pinochet and his economic team, the policymakers' ideological positions, and the role of veto players. The more limited reform of health care is linked to the actions of a powerful veto player, the professional association of physicians.     

Multisectoral Movement Alliances and Media Access: Salvadoran Newspaper Coverage of the Health Care Struggle

Focusing on the social movement that resisted the privatization of health care in El Salvador in 2002–3, this article asks how the movement's multisectoral composition influenced news coverage of the health care policy debate. Specifically, it examines whether the diversity of perspectives in the alliance was reflected in the media's source selection and framing of the policy issues. A content analysis of Salvadoran newspapers' coverage shows that the media relied mainly on just two movement actors to represent the antiprivatization position: the striking doctors and the leftist opposition party. It also reveals that a period of elite dissensus on the policy issues opened a temporary opportunity to insert movement messages in the coverage. The study indicates that a multisectoral alliance does not enhance movement influence through the news media, though broad alliances confer strategic advantages for the movement's broader communication work.     

The 1992 health reform victory over pressure group politics

The 1988 health reform was substantially undermined by the influence of powerful pressure groups representing the interests of the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry and resistance from the German federal states. Consequently, it failed to achieve its aim of ‘cutting costs’. The theory supporting ‘resistance to reform within the health care system’ was widely accepted in the literature on the subject. The 1992 reform appeared to contradict this theory, as the political leadership succeeded in overcoming both party policy and intergovernmental differences, as well as making considerable cost savings and structural changes in spite of resistance from the opposition ‘lobby’. Three factors were responsible for this. They were under enormous pressure to act due to the financial crisis and the interdependent costs within the welfare state, the changing motives within the health care system, and a new political strategy which responded to this. In the long term, prospects are for a trend towards ‘greater privatisation’.     

The New Left and Health Care Reform in El Salvador

After a decade of civil war and four consecutive conservative administrations, El Salvador's leftist FMLN won its first presidential election in 2009. How has public policy changed under this New Left government, and why? This article addresses the question in the area of public health care. An alliance of health sector leaders with both technocratic and diplomatic abilities capitalized on the policy window opened by the FMLN's electoral victory and worked within the parameters set by President Mauricio Funes, the FMLN, and civil society to universalize health care. The new minister of health, a professional highly esteemed inside and outside the country, was able to engage both a large social movement protesting neoliberal policy and an energetic health diplomat sent by the Pan American Health Organization. In designing its reform, this alliance benefited from international as well as “bottom‐up” policy diffusion.     

Territorial Justice and Devolution

The concept of territorial justice has a long history in studies of the spatial distribution of welfare state services in the UK. Since the inception of the devolution process, territorial justice has maintained support as a principle to guide policy and has been promoted recently as an objective for the reform of the financial arrangements for the devolved administrations. The first part of the article argues that the standard version of territorial justice is premised on the UK as a unitary state and is unworkable as a political principle of justice after devolution. An alternative version of territorial justice is developed to accommodate a union state. The final part discusses several policy issues post-devolution in terms of different versions of territorial justice: intergovernmental fiscal relations; health care policy including access to medicines; and free community care for the elderly.     

Could lessons have been drawn from New Zealand for England’s NHS reforms?

This article argues that New Zealand (NZ) could be an important case for drawing health system reform lessons from for the English National Health Service. Reasons for this are outlined, including the close similarities between the two countries and their health systems. The article describes the diverging health reform agendas of conservative governments in both countries, noting a series of lessons for England that might have been drawn from NZ. Explanations for the differing reform agendas are then offered.     

Japanese imperialism and Mongolian Buddhism, 1932-1945

Between 1932 and 1945 imperial Japan had strong political and strategic interests in the Mongol lands. To win Mongol backing for the Japanese war effort and to strengthen the Mongol regions as a base for Japanese operations elsewhere on the Asian mainland, the Japanese military authorities developed a complex policy to support and reform Mongolian Buddhism. In pursuit of their goals, they promoted changes in Buddhist religious practices and fostered the use of monasteries as conduits for modern education and health care. Mongolian Buddhists themselves took part in these reforms but they generally accepted only those changes that were already a part of Mongol political and religious thinking.     

Explaining Policy Stability and Change in Swiss Health Care Reforms

The article investigates recent health reforms and reform attempts in Switzerland. A substantial reform, the revision of the health insurance law in 1994, is followed by a long period of refused reform proposals and incremental change. In order to explain policy change and policy stability in health policies, we apply veto‐player theory to partisan and parliamentary debates on reform proposals of the health insurance from the end of the 1980s until today. Shifts in ideological positions of parties, especially with regard to the objective of solidarity, allowed for a new win‐set in the 1990s that was at the base of the law revision. Since then, the win‐set is empty as parties did not change their preferences. New and substantial reforms will only be possible, it is concluded, if the pivot player, the Christian‐democratic party, changes its ideological positions to a significant extent.     

Health Policy in Chile: The Return of the Public Sector?

Health policy in Chile has mirrored the main changes in economic policy in recent times. The 1950s and 1960s witnessed centralisation of public health care into a National Health Service. Neoliberal policies in the 1970s and 1980s refocused health policy onto extending the scope for private insurance and provision in health care. The return to democracy in 1990 has produced a reappraisal of health policy, with the emphasis on strengthening and improving public health insurance and care. This paper examines the extent to which recent changes in health policy signal a reappraisal of the private-public mix in the provision of basic services, and argues that a model for health care and financing built around a strong, modern, and efficient, public health care sector is more likely to succeed in addressing the health needs of the population in Chile and Latin America.