The United States, Germany and France: Balancing Transatlantic Relations

Relations between the United States, France and Germany significantly determine the content and structure of the broader transatlantic relationship. Relations improved after the changes of government in Germany in 2005 and France in 2007, and they can be expected to improve further after the change of administration in the United States in 2009. Washington is likely to pay more attention to its European allies while these may become more involved in issues beyond Europe's borders. Sharing leadership will be the challenge for the United States, while bringing more intellectual and material input will be the challenge for the Europeans. At the same time, France and Germany will develop and maintain independent views. But if partnership is the aim on both sides of the Atlantic, a more promising relationship can be expected even where differences exist.     

Looking on: France and the new Germany

Franco‐German reconciliation lies at the root of post‐war European co‐operation. The Franco‐German alliance, formalised in 1963, has become a powerful axis with which all other European powers have had to deal. It is contended in this article that the main French fears over German unification were those of a nation discovering itself to be a junior partner in a relationship within which it had long pretended to seniority. This article retraces French reactions to German unification during 1989–90, and reviews the state of contemporary Franco‐German relations with regard to personal relationships, changing perceptions of the equilibrium of the Franco‐German alliance, foreign policy, relations with central and eastern Europe, and European integration.     

'Chief Executives' and their Parties: The Case of Germany

Based on a combination of two analytical perspectives on the relationship between chief executives and their parties, this article offers a historical assessment of chancellor/party relations in Germany since 1949. The case study provides only modest support for the popular assumption that the leaders of left-wing governments are generally more constrained by their parties than their 'bourgeois' counterparts. There is also little evidence supporting the view that the formal combination of party chairman and head of government per se determines much of the relationship between chief executives and their parties. Rather, both with regard to the durability of coalitions and the policy-making capacities of German chancellors, it is the relationship between the former and the Fraktion leaders of the coalition parties in the Bundestag that seems to constitute a key variable.     

Sources of EU Support: The Case of Germany

The determinants of support for European integration and the European Union have been analysed by previous research from a comparative perspective: factors that help to explain the differences between the levels of support of the EU member states are considered to be the factors that drive EU support in general. This article takes a different approach using a cross-time perspective to identify the sources of EU support and to investigate the causal structure of the effects. We analyse German support for European integration which is very volatile over time and test potential explanations for these fluctuations. Three bundles of factors are considered: the economy, the increasing scope of EU policies, and the domestic political process. It appears that all three are associated with fluctuations of German support for European integration. However, domestic politics seems to be mightier than often understood. The empirical evidence that is presented in support of these claims is taken from the Mannheim Eurobarometer Trendfile and recent Eurobarometer surveys, from the Comparative Political Data Set, and from the official handbook of the Bundestag.     

从法德和解看中日关系的发展--一种文化心理学角度的解析

法德两国历经百年恩仇之后在短时间内实现了和解,而相反地,中日关系总是一波未平一波又起.本文从文化心理学的角度,参照法德和解的原因,分析造成目前中日政治关系冷淡尤其是民间抵触情绪强烈的根由,并提出相应的建议和措施.     

福利国家中的社会经济压力和决策者——德国和意大利家庭政策的比较研究

德国和意大利的福利国家制度都是建立在深受基督教民主主义影响的欧洲大陆模式上的,强调以家庭为主的社会保障。但在近十多年里,两国在以家庭政策为代表的社会政策领域却呈现出不同的发展路径。本文运用历史制度主义理论对两国的这一差异进行比较分析后认为,社会经济压力能否对社会福利政策的延续或改变起作用,在于政治参与者是否达成认知上的趋同,从而把握住决定性的时机进行变革。     

At the Roots of Labour Activism: Chinese and Cambodian Garment Workers in Comparative Perspective

ABSTRACT

In China extensive, co-ordinated strikes such as those that have taken place in Cambodia in recent years remain rare, with most protests initiated by Chinese workers contained inside single factories or industrial zones. Also, while Cambodian workers often mobilise for their interests and broader policy issues, such as the determination of the minimum wage, Chinese workers largely limit themselves to protests against violations of their legal rights. How can these different patterns of labour activism be explained? Through factory gate surveys and interviews conducted during the summer of 2016 in a sample of Hong Kong-owned garment factories in Dongguan and Phnom Penh, this study provides a comparative analysis of the root causes of labour activism in China and Cambodia. In particular, the article focuses on three elements that play an important role in determining labour activism: the expectations of the workers regarding wages; the workers’ perception of the labour law and the legal system; and trade union pluralism.     

The Anatomy of Multi-Commodity Trading Conglomerates: A Case Study

This article attempts to go beyond the “mode of production” debate to examine many of the theoretical and empirical controversies in terms of defining and situating the socio-economic dynamic of pre-colonial India. It tries to explore some broad patterns of production and exchange evolving between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and compares them to corresponding structures of “proto-industrialisation” that have been suggested as being relevant to European development. It argues that the evidence of persistent pressures for goods and services (made necessary by the rapid expansion of both internal and external demand), the extension and consolidation of markets, the critical role of the merchant entrepreneurs in the structures and strategies of the process, and the gradual shifts in the relations of production, were all suggestive of a similar process of capitalist transformation demonstrated in Europe.     

关于"和谐世界"与"民主联盟"的比较研究——以东盟为例

"和谐世界"是一种传承中国传统文化、弘扬新中国外交思想的外交理念,"民主联盟"是一种宣扬美国价值观,为美国国家利益服务的一种文化外交理念."和谐世界"与"民主联盟"在东盟问题上展开的角逐,也代表着中美两国软权力的较量.本文通过对两者在东盟问题上实践的目标、影响、阻力和前景四个方面进行对比,对两者进行一个较系统的比较研究.     

传媒监察力——以澳门报刊为例的分析

传媒监察力体现了在社会运行中传媒与政府的互动关系 ,传媒对政府的有力监察有助于一个社会的良性发展。本文选取了澳门报刊作为案例 ,通过对其回归前后监察力状况的分析 ,讨论了传媒监察力不足的原因 ,并展望了它的前景。     

新加坡发展模式的输出与借鉴:苏州工业园案例研究

从中国的角度,总结和如何借鉴苏州工业园的建设经验,促进广州中新知识城的建设,本文认为首先,必须全面认识苏州工业园的经验,既要看到苏州工业园成功的一面,也要看到其前面不成功的一面;其次,必须全面认识新加坡成功的经验,既要看到经验的可借鉴性,也要看到其局限性.     

The Growth of Civil Society in Timor-Leste: Three Moments of Activism

During the dramatic upheavals and conflicts that have accompanied political independence in Timor-Leste, Timorese activists have made an important, sometimes overlooked, contribution. This paper highlights the significant roles they played at three major turning points over the past 15 years – the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991, the UN-sponsored independence ballot in 1999 and the political-military crisis in 2006. Each one of these events was a starting point for a new phase in Timorese development history and a new phase in the growth of Timorese civil society. The personal reflections of Timorese activists provide poignant insight into their changing focus of activism as Timor-Leste became independent. Their “active citizenship” provided a mechanism to both contribute to and contest the mainstream nation-building processes which were, in some cases, perceived to be overly influenced by Western standards and often failed to acknowledge or respect Timorese culture and traditions.     

Legal Development and Privatization in Russia: A Case Study

An American attorney and political scientist presents a study focused on managerial efforts to reorganize the corporate structure of a large aviation conglomerate with 14,000 employees. The conversion of properties from state to collective ownership and organizational shifts to a joint-stock company are detailed and analyzed. Managerial strategies to streamline the privatization are traced from corporate documents and procedures designed internally to devise orderly regulations not rooted in parliamentary legislation or presidential decrees. Broader implications are noted in light of possible trends to develop laws at the grassroots level and to establish precedents that may be assimilated. journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: K22, L21, P13, P31.     

印度反倾销反补贴实证分析

本文对印度反倾销反补贴指控与被指控从案件数量、国际地位、产品结构、国别结构等方面进行了分析。     

出口导向与市场约束——二战后泰国的经验及对中国的意义

二战后,泰国从依靠农产品出口开始其工业化道路,在有利的国际市场环境下,泰国从80年代开始的出口导向战略取得了巨大成功.泰国的经验说明,依靠对外贸易和利用外国投资可以加速发展中国家的经济建设.但1997年金融危机的爆发说明依靠外部市场的发展会受到国际环境的制约.而泰国面对国际市场变化时所采取的市场发展与转移方面的措施说明,通过加强区域合作可以建立较为稳固的出口市场.     

The Gorbachev Reform: A Maximal Case

Assumptions that major reform in the Soviet economy cannot be realized are challenged. Beliefs that Gorbachev is unable or unwilling to take necessary political risks, that bureaucratic resistance will forestall efforts at incremental change, and that Communist ideology lacks themes that can be used to mobilize support for innovation are analyzed. Assessment of reform should be based on an awareness of the advantages (as well as risks) of a strategy tying Gorbachev's political fate to reform and of the effectiveness of a timetable that consolidates gains in services and agriculture before confronting an entrenched industrial bureaucracy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.