The World Bank and social capital: Lessons from ten rural development projects in the Philippines and Mexico

Social capital is widely recognized as one of the few sources of capital available to the poor, yet the processes by which development policies affect the accumulation of that social capital are not well understood. The World Bank, through its funding of development projects, affects the institutional environments for the accumulation of such social capital. The question is how to determine whether that institutional context is enabling, and to what degree. This paper compares ten recent World Bank-funded rural development projects in Mexico and the Philippines to explore how the processes of project design and implementation influence the institutional environments for the accumulation of horizontal, vertical, and intersectoral forms of pro-poor social capital. The findings have conceptual and policy implications for understanding the political dynamics of creating enabling environments for social capital accumulation by the poor.     

Transgression and (sexual) citizenship: the political struggle for self-determination within BDSM communities

There has been – and continues to be – a tension within the political strategies of sexual minority communities claiming citizenship. Whilst attempting to forge a political self-determination based on being (dissident) sexual subjects, members of sexually diverse communities have frequently engaged in political practices that normalize their diversity to accord with wider socio-cultural conventions. In this article, we address this issue in relation to the political strategies of one of the most marginalized sexual identities/practices: BDSM. By drawing on the work of Foucault, Rose, Rabinow and Bahktin, we advance a case for how it may be possible for dissident sexual communities to resist the normalizing effects of citizenship whilst still making claims for legal recognition and wider social acknowledgment. Key to the argument is the theorization of a position wherein carnival transgression operates within a dialectical integration of ideology and utopia as a mode of citizenship.     

农村区域发展非均衡性与乡村治理结构的改革

由于历史传统、自然条件和国家政策等原因,我国东中西部地区发展差距进一步拉大,呈现出明显的非均衡发展的特征.这导致我国农村许多地区出现了"弱治理"的治理形态,严重影响了乡村治理的效率和绩效.因此,在乡村治理进程中,应该正视农村区域发展非均衡的现实状况,转变长期以来的全国"一盘棋"的思维定势,针对不同地方经济和社会发展水平的差异,在坚持国家统一领导的前提下,因地制宜,分类指导,引导乡村治理朝着民主治理、自主治理的方向发展.逐步把现行的"乡政村治"治理结构变革为"乡村自治".     

The effects of future climatic changes on international water resources: the Colorado River,the United States,and Mexico

International water resources have been a source of contention in many parts of the world over the last few decades and such conflicts may grow in frequency and severity as future climatic changes alter the quantity or quality of limited water resources. Indeed, some future climatic changes appear inevitable due to growing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other trace gases. Unless mechanisms for incorporating climatic changes into water agreements can be worked out, these changes may provoke further frictions and conflicts. One region with a history of political conflict over shared water resources is the Colorado River Basin in the United States and Mexico. While past disagreements over water have mostly been resolved, future climatic changes that adversely affect the existing hydrologic regime of the basin cannot be discounted. This paper examines the possibility that future long-term climatic changes may exacerbate shortages in the Colorado River. Political conflicts and tensions that arise from reductions in water supply in both the United States and Mexico are evaluated and discussed, together with recommendations for incorporating the issue of climatic change into existing international treaties and agreements.     

Postsovereign Governance in a Globalizing and Fragmenting World: The Case of Mexico

Globalization and “global governance” have become the buzzwords at the turn of the century in order to name and explain the emerging post-Cold War international order. The first one makes reference to the technological revolution that is modifying our notions of space, time, and production, while the latter attempts to illustrate how power and its regulatory practices are being transformed among polities. We discuss these two notions in the first part of this essay to argue that, in fact, the emerging “global” order will be different from that grounded on state-centered notions of territory and sovereignty. Our arguments focus on the Mexican case to highlight how this country is moving from an inward-looking, state-centered, authoritarian machinery of governance, to a postsovereign, principle-based, multilayered governance structure. This transition has mainly manifested in the governance mechanisms of corporate and human rights. This does not mean that policy tools of the “ancient regime” have completely disappeared. State-centered structures of governance will remain important during this stage of economic and political change. Areas moving into postsovereign and principled regulatory practices will overlap with those that remain under the monopoly of national bureaucracies. Though Mexico's economic and political change could be explained as a reactive movement against the collapse of the state-centered authoritarian model, an important conclusion of this essay is that the emerging pattern of postsovereign and principled bureaucratic governance will play a major role in shaping the future of those changes.     

Decentralization and the implementation of rural development in Senegal: The role of rural councils

Decentralization efforts in Francophone African countries are both rarer and far less ambitious than those in Anglophone states. The decentralization programme launched by Senegal over a decade ago is an important exception. Since 1972, when the administrative reform law took effect, Senegal has been engaged in an effort to decentralize its administrative structures in order to promote rural development, to escape from the burdens of the remnants of an overly centralized colonial system and to stem the rising tide of rural opposition (malaise paysan). This new initiative, which led to the creation of local elected councils in rural communities (communautés rurales). has thus far achieved only marginal success. The 319 rural councils suffer from serious under-financing, and often from domination by administrative authorities, especially the sous-préféts. Based on an examination of the attitudes. perceptions and behaviour of a sample of rural councillors (n = 144), particularly regarding budgetary matters, it appears that the rural communities in fact provide the possibility for some popular input into local and regional planning.     

管窥农村基层党组织思想建设

思想建设的问题是党的建设中的首要问题,中国共产党自成立以来,始终重视自身的思想建设,尤其重视用马克思主义武装全党。党深刻地认识到,要解决党的性质,起决定作用的是党的思想教育、思想领导。农村基层党组织的思想建设更是新农村建设的重要组成部分,是提高农村基层党组织凝聚力、战斗力的重要环节。     

The 2003 Russian Duma election and the decline in rural support for the communist party

The December 2003 Duma election was a landmark in Russian elections, marking a significant decline in electoral support for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). This article explains the decline of support for the KPRF in the December 2003 election. Our specific focus is on the decline in rural support for the KPRF. This particular aspect is important because rural voters constituted a large portion of the KPRF's support throughout the 1990s. Using data from two rounds of surveys in several Russian regions, the article demonstrates that by 2003 the KPRF failed to capitalize on the ‘misery of the market,’ that is, to capture support from the ‘losers and malcontents’ during market reform, suggesting that KPRF supporters dealigned themselves from the party.     

Ideology in three voices: an adapted methodology for the study of political ideology

Abstract

Theology in four voices represents a fitting methodological model for the study of political ideology, given the similarities between religions and ideologies as belief systems with ineliminable, fundamental beliefs. The formal theological voice is dropped from consideration on the grounds that, while the involvement of academic theologians in the theology of ordinary believers is entirely appropriate, political theorists ought not to be involved in seeking to change or refine the ideologies which they research. The normative voice – which we refer to as the established voice – consists of texts which carry authority within a particular ideology, such as The Communist Manifesto in Marxism, or J.S. Mill’s On Liberty in liberalism; the espoused voice represents that which adherents of an ideology explain about what they believe; the operant voice consists of the political action taken by the adherents. While there are potential disadvantages to this method, there are also potential advantages. Firstly, it enables a fuller understanding of an ideology, especially when tensions arise between the three voices. Secondly, it allows the researcher to enter at any one of three points into a circle leading from pre-understanding to understanding. Thirdly and finally, the model presents opportunities to combine different methodological approaches into ideological research.     

The strategic behavior of the Italian Left in a risk-sharing framework

The failure of the communist systems in Eastern Europe, the collapse of two of the main Italian political parties due to their massive involvement in the corruption scandal which exploded in the early 1990s, and the change of the electoral system from proportional representation to plurality, caused a major revolution in the Italian political landscape. Within this scenario old and new parties have been shaping their electoral and political strategies. In this paper our primary interest is to demonstrate that the apparently divergent policies supported by the two main parties of the Italian Left could hide a probable electoral strategy to grab the moderate Italian electorate and, hence, to capture the governing majority necessary to rule the country. This will be done through an economic model of risk-sharing applied to plurality maximizer parties.     

Corruption and electoral campaigns in Mexico: A case study of the federal electoral process in 2018

The article analyzes the relationship that exists between electoral campaigns and corruption, studying the case of Mexico. The most common ways and means of practicing and presenting corruption during these electoral processes are described. In addition, the circle of corruption that begins during the electoral processes and continues once in the government is described. In the same sense, the results of an opinion survey in the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara (ZMG) on corruption during electoral campaigns are presented. It is concluded that, many times, corruption in the government begins during the electoral stage, so it is important to articulate various strategies and legal instruments to inhibit it from the electoral stage.     

From simplicity to complexity: The development of theory in the study of judicial behavior

This article assesses the development of theories of judicial behavior in the United States in the past few decades. It is argued that the study of judicial behavior has been relatively balkanized, with some advances within particular theoretical contexts, but with little successful effort at integrating different approaches within a comprehensive theory. Although I develop no such comprehensive theory in this article, I do argue that the predominant frameworks for analyzing judicial behavior—attitude theory, fact pattern theory, role theory, small group theory, organization theory, and environmental theories—are not incompatible and can be at least partially integrated. In order to accomplish the desired integration, there are three desiderata:

• The most general and useful unit of theoretical analysis is the individual decision maker.
• Nonindividual level theories can and should be articulated to include propositions about the underlying microlevel processes.
• Comprehensive theory can best be developed through models that incorporate influences stemming from various levels (e.g., group, institution, environment) but that ultimately focus on the individual.

Thus, theories of judicial behavior must become more complex if they are to achieve a higher level of explanation and prediction.     

"三个代表"与中国共产党的执政合法性

努力寻求合法性认同 ,是中国共产党长期执政和加强自身建设的优良传统和经验总结。目前 ,中国正处于由传统社会向现代社会转型的战略机遇期 ,顺利实现社会转型和建设中国特色社会主义对我们党执政合法性的增强提出了权威和秩序的双重诉求。我们党必须认真面对执政过程中出现的合法性危机问题 ,积极加强自身建设 ,不断提高自身的政治权威和社会影响力 ,在主导中国社会发展中确保执政地位的巩固和持久。“三个代表”正是蕴涵着中国共产党这样一种高瞻远瞩的政治智慧和对执政合法性诉求的时代命题     

Block grants and state discretion: A study of the implementation of the partnership for health act in three states

This article examines the use of federal funds provided to state health departments under a grant consolidation of eight previously categorical health programs in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Alabama in a comparative context. The primary question addressed is why the three states chose to describe their allocations of funds within the total health department budget differently, and what political, administrative, and bureaucratic factors explained the differences. Although certain factors were found to be at work in all states (e.g. each had an incentive to concentrate the reported use of federal funds to simplify federal audits) these factors combined with circumstances unique to each state to produce different expenditure patterns. After examining the experience of three states, general hypotheses are developed. For example, it is hypothesized that more volatile changes in allocations will result from grant consolidations in policy areas which do not address basic service needs. Finally the decision-making process with respect to block grant funds is characterized as one in which a small group of professionals determined allocations autonomously with relatively little input from interest groups or other actors within state government; nevertheless, the external political and administrative environment severely limited the possibilities of realistic choice in each of the three states studied.I wish to thank the National Center for Health Services Research which supported this study under grant HS 01495. I am indebted to the state health department officials in Alabama, Michigan, and Pennsylvania who made this research possible. I would also like to thank Leonard Robins, Janet Shikles, William Schmalzreid, Bruce Vladeck, John Kingdon and Robert Baitty for comments on an earlier draft. Of course the views expressed are my own and in no way reflect the positions of the Department of Health and Human Services.     

Institutional design and organisation of the civil protection national system in Mexico: the case for a decentralised and participative policy network

Mexico established the Civil Protection National System (CPNS) following the disastrous 1985 earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 people and devastated large sections of Mexico City. The institutional design and structure of the CPNS embraced citizen demands for greater participation in the Federal government's disaster prevention and response programmes. The authors examine the Federal government's response to disasters since 1985 and conclude that the CPNS operates in a manner that is contrary to the precepts that shaped its design and structure. The authors conclude that orthodox beliefs and assumptions about disasters rationalise the current operations of the CPNS. They argue that a holistic perspective of disasters, rather than a change in institutional design and organisation, is required in order to operationalise intergovernmental cooperation and citizen participation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.