印度教与印度种姓制度

印度种姓制度不仅是一种特有的社会分工形式 ,它同时也是一种印度教的教阶制度。它被古印度的婆罗门经书赋予宗教上的“神圣”起源 ,又从印度教的神、哲学中获得了一种玄秘的“合理性”证明 ,且切合于印度教宗教生活方式的实际需要 ,以此能够在印度社会中长久地存在下来。     

印度种姓政治:历史、现状和未来——以北方邦为例

种姓政治深刻影响着印度国内政治。印度人口最多的北方邦是全印种姓政治最为典型的邦之一,是多支低种姓群众运动的发源地,产生了两个政治势力强大的种姓政党——大众社会党和社会主义党。种姓政治在北方邦一个多世纪的发展和演变大体可以分为发端期、成形期、强盛期和式微期四个阶段。种姓政治的发展有其内在局限性,加之印度人民党国族认同理念迅速扩张,种姓政治进入了衰退状态,但种姓领袖及其派系拥有的政治能量仍然不可小觑。     

尼泊尔种姓制度的历史沿革

尼泊尔的种姓制度源于印度。随着梨查维人进入加德满都谷地并建立王朝 ,种姓制度在尼泊尔开始萌芽。马拉王朝时期 ,贾亚斯提迪国王 (1380 - 14 2 2 )实施宗教和社会改革 ,正式建立了尼泊尔的种姓制度。 19世纪下半叶 ,忠格·巴哈杜尔将军攫取政权后颁布国家法今 ,对种姓予以重新划定 ,并推及全国。 196 2年马亨德拉国王以法律的形式废除了种姓制度 ,但种姓制度的残余犹存 ,影响犹在。     

Democracy and the multinationals

The relationship between western multinational corporations' perceived commercial interests and democratic quality in developing markets is more varied than habitually argued. While autocratic policy making and low-intensity democracy have been judged to provide benefits to investors, they are also increasingly recognized to generate features prejudicial to commercial operations. Many investment trends reflect the adverse impact of democratic limitations in developing markets. Multinational companies can be faulted less for a uniform effort to frustrate democratic improvements than for a failure to develop a coherent or proactive engagement in relation to the international democracy promotion agenda.     

主权民主:普京对俄罗斯民主理论与实践的探索

普京执政以后,主张在加强国家权威主义的基础上发展符合俄罗斯国情的民主政治。普京的“主权民主”思想,既是维护俄国家政治、经济、军事权益的现实需要,也是为保证后普京时代俄国家政治体制得以继承与发展的一项战略举措。     

种姓制度对印度现代化进程的影响

种姓制度是印度社会特有的等级制度,主要存在于印度教中,对伊斯兰教和锡克教也有不同程度的影响。在这种制度中,每个种姓集团都占据一定的社会位置,最高种姓是婆罗门,其次是刹帝利,再下面是吠舍,处在底层的是首陀罗。此外,还有一大批不能进入种姓序列、专门从事卑贱和脏累工作的贱民(又称不可接触者)。每个种姓都包括许多亚     

Capitalism,Democracy and the War in Iraq

Although Saddam Hussein was a bloody tyrant, and although deposing him served a noble purpose, one still may doubt the wisdom of the American war against Iraq. It is quite dubious whether the democratisation of Iraq can serve as a justification of the American war effort. Properly understood, the democratic peace proposition does not promise that poor, emerging, and illiberal democracies surrounded by autocracies are more peaceful than autocracies. By itself, the transition towards democracy is quite likely to imply some semi-democratic phase when the country is at risk of civil war. Moreover, the democratic peace proposition says nothing at all about the likelihood of success of democratisation in a poor, oil-rich, Arab and Muslim country where there is little common ground to unite the democracy-imposing occupier and the defeated country. Finally, defeating the insurgency in the Sunni triangle of Iraq might require means which a democracy cannot even wish to apply. Whereas the promotion of democracy by war looks like a dead end and is doomed to failure, the prospects of promoting peace by exporting capitalism, growth, and prosperity look much better. Such a strategy even serves the purpose of later democratisation of those countries that now accept only creeping capitalism.     

民主与非洲的政治发展

“民主”与“政治发展”是两个在历史渊源和内容上都有重大差别的概念。与“民主”相比 ,“政治发展”的内涵和外延更大 ,更具张力和持久力。在强调大众参与和政治民主的同时 ,“政治发展”还关注政治文化的形成、政治结构的分化 ,以及社会稳定、法制秩序和经济发展 ,等等。民主是影响政治发展诸多变量中的一个关键变量。兼顾效率(经济发展 )和秩序 (社会稳定和法制 )的民主可以极大地促进政治发展。反之 ,则会造成政治衰败 (或称政治不发展 )。当前非洲的政治发展必须通过民主变革加以推进 ,要强调法治以及社会体制的一种稳定和有序的变化 ,建立“有法治的民主”。另外 ,政治发展还要兼顾效率和经济发展 ,并注重有非洲特色的新型政治文化的培育、形成和发展。     

联合国的民主及其治理

冷战结束后,联合国在众多国际领域的治理及其影响日益广泛,对联合国的民主问责便成为理论和现实中的一种必然要求.本文从联合国成员内部的民主、成员间民主和全球民主三个层次考察了联合国的民主之内涵.在此基础上阐述了联合国的民主治理及其治理机制完善的主要变革途径.     

Informal Institutions and Democracy

Informal institutions have grown in relevance for the analysis of new ‘third wave’ democracies. The research strategy receives its impetus from the debate on neo‐institutionalism theory, which offers a productive perspective for structuring the field of analysis. This article explains the distinguishing factors between formal and informal institutions. It addresses five basic types of informal institutions, examines the ways in which they function and discusses their relevance in terms of democracy theory. Each type is characterized by the way in which it enacts its respective means of political influence. The study distinguishes between forms of specific relationship (clientelism), of material exchange (corruption), of violent exertion of influence (putsch threat), of civil resistance (civil disobedience) and of legal practice (custom law), and discusses their relevance to democracy. The central argument maintains that a differentiated study of informal institutions is crucial to addressing this question. The necessary typological differentiation allows us to make an appropriate assessment ‐one that does not manifest itself in a simple clear‐cut choice of affirmative or negative answers.     

Democracy in Georgia Since the Rose Revolution

Success for Georgia's nascent democracy would be a major success for the democracy-promotion efforts of the United States, which has hailed the democratization there since the Rose Revolution as a success even as concerns have been voiced by some observers regarding the pace and direction of this effort. The U.S. policy of unconditional support for Georgia's government and its disinterest in drawing attention to the new government's democratization shortcomings call into question how serious the United States is about democracy-promotion, particularly in countries that have a semi-democratic but pro-American government. A U.S. approach to Georgia that recognizes the challenges there and seeks to help it solve these problems will demonstrate that America is sincere in its desire to promote democracy, not just to support friendly governments.     

东亚文化与民主的构建

构建一种新型的具有现代性的文化与民主模式是东亚各国面临的挑战。实际上,无论东亚和欧美,社会中都存在着个人主义和社群主义两种文化,尽管它们对这两种文化的价值承诺有很大不同,这种现实是东亚社会塑造独具特色的现代文化和民主的基础。东亚通过对西方现代文化和民主中的局限性和东亚传统尤其是儒家传统的局限性的扬弃以及对西方现代文化的回应,表明东亚可以以自己独特的形式来实现与现代性的联结,从而构建一种与欧美和其他地区在形式上有所不同的文化和民主模式。     

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Development of Democracy in Africa

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung （FES） started to work in over 20 countries in Africa since their independence. To promote democracy has always been the focus of our work in Africa. We believe that democracy is the important and necessary precondition for the sustainable development of mankind. And we are fully aware that there is still no blue print for democracy in Africa.     

拉美民主的现状与未来——从权力结构的视角看拉美民主

拉美民主向何处去?对于这个问题,学术界有迥然不同的回答。从拉美民主的现状来看,政治文化中非民主的成分仍然很大,公民社会发育不健全,公共机构腐败严重、运转不灵,选举缺乏实质意义,政党丧失社会信任,政策导向具有严重的倾向性,国际环境的影响也很不确定,权力高度集中于新兴的经济精英手中,权力结构出现严重失衡。在这种情况下,拉美社会不平等的程度会进一步加深。在宏观经济形势较好时,拉美的民主尚可保持稳定。一旦经济形势逆转,拉美的民主体制便岌岌可危。     

论伊斯兰教与民主之间不确定的关系

学术界围绕伊斯兰教与民主的纷争,实质上是关于民主是否适合于中东地区、怎样衡量伊斯兰教在该地区民主化进程中的作用的争论。从价值观和历史观来看,伊斯兰教与民主之间既存在对立,又有相容的成分。伊斯兰教对民主的影响具有不确定性特征,既可以用来支持民主的某些理念,又会被作为反对民主赖以存在的基础。伊斯兰教通过影响社会政治、经济、文化等方面来推动或束缚民主化进程。但是,在中东伊斯兰国家的民主化进程中,伊斯兰教不是惟一的、决定性的影响因素。