The Independence Case in Comparative Perspective

Scotland is not the only sub‐state unit in Europe where relevant political actors make claims for independence. To generate insights on these independence demands, we compare the drivers, arguments and popular support for secession in Scotland, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Flanders. We argue that national identity, party politics and the economy are behind the independence requests, and the exact articulation of these elements varies from case to case. Currently, the most salient of these demands are the ones from Catalonia; Basque demands for self‐determination are less prominent than in the past, whereas the demand for a vote on independence is much less articulated in Flanders. Although the Scottish independence referendum has set a precedent for solving independence disputes, we argue that the possibilities of exporting the Scottish referendum experience to other realities are limited.     

略论"文化台独"

"文化台独"是一种以确立台湾独立性为价值取向,以"去中国化"为特征,为"台独"服务的社会文化思潮。从其发展趋势来看,影响已浸入到台湾社会的各个阶层,危害性也越来越大,一旦成为台湾的主流意识,必将对两岸的和平统一造成严重的危害。因此,必须高度关注,坚决遏制"文化台独"思潮的蔓延。中华文化与台湾文化同出一脉,源远流长。民进党当局推行"本土化""、去中国化,"这是要从根本上割断台湾与祖国的联系,是不得人心的,其图谋也是不能得逞的。     

Central Bank Independence and Deflation

Deflation presents special challenges to central banking, as traditional monetary policy tools are highly inefficient in dealing with deflationary pressures. In this case, the Federal Reserve must use alternative monetary policy tools that are specially designed to artificially boost asset prices through “printing press” or currency manipulation. Unfortunately, these alternative monetary policy tools create unintended political, geopolitical, and social consequences that overreach into the direct responsibilities of other branches of government. Thus, the government must be able to influence Federal Open Market Committee decisions that potentially affect (or contradict) U.S. foreign policy, U.S. trade policy, U.S. dollar policy, and deliberate domestic/global wealth distribution policies.     

Risk Attitudes and Independence Vote Choice

In this article, we examine the impact of risk attitudes on vote choice in the context of a salient referendum with high levels of uncertainty about the consequences of the ballot proposal. Using data from a pre- and post-referendum panel survey conducted in the context of the 2014 independence referendum in Scotland, and a specific battery to measure attitudes to risk, we determine how these attitudes operate in such political contexts. We reach two main conclusions. First, risk attitudes have a direct effect on vote choice, even after controlling for alternative explanations of vote choice such as party identification and leaders’ evaluations. In the aggregate, the effect of risk attitudes on the vote choice contributes to the status quo bias found in referendums. Second, we find that information moderates the effect of risk attitudes on vote choice. Voters who are politically knowledgeable have a greater capacity to predict the consequences of political outcomes and, therefore, they are less affected by their risk attitudes when making their ballot choices.

     

Religion and the Scottish Independence Referendum

The Scottish independence referendum debate, like the Act of Union of 1707, has significant religious dimensions. The Act gave special recognition through the monarch to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Church, a national church, has not yet declared a position on independence, but is seeking to protect its existing privileges whatever the result. The Roman Catholic Church, recognised by the Scottish Parliament, unlike its formal rejection by the UK Parliament and monarchy, symbolically associates itself with the case for independence. Paradoxically, Catholics supporting independence subject themselves, in their religious lives, to an authoritarian foreign power. The SNP Scottish Government attempts to draw Roman Catholic support for independence from its traditional support base in the Labour Party by cultivating a sense of religious grievance that is not justified by the evidence. Old religious divisions are still relevant but non‐religion is growing fast and resulting in new perspectives on the independence debate.     

敏感人:一项分析邻避效应的人性假设

社会科学中的理论往往基于一定的人性假设,邻避效应相关理论也是如此。但邻避效应这一概念在理论和实践上有诸多局限性,需要构建出符合中国经验的概念体系。为了实现从邻避效应到敏感性工程社会稳定风险事件的概念转化,需要构建起其所依托的人性假设。敏感人假设基于民众对安全性因素、利益性因素和合法性因素的风险感知,依据风险感知和行动方式可以将敏感人划分为不同的类型,敏感人假设为未来的敏感性工程社会稳定风险研究提供了重要的理论支撑。     

非营利组织的独立与自治

非营利组织作为一种民间志愿性组织,在发展社会福利、提高公众参与方面具有无可比拟的积极作用。但是,随着非营利组织数量的增加、规模的扩大及社会地位的提高,它却面临着丧失独立性、沦为政府附庸和商业公司的威胁。如何保持非营利组织的独立与自治、实现非营利组织的健康持续发展就成了我们应对的新挑战。非营利组织实现独立与自治的措施在于:强化非营利组织自身对独立性的追求与承诺;明确非营利组织使命,实现管理创新;采用透明的运作方式,提高组织公信度;扩大非营利组织间的交流与合作,提高部门竞争能力。     

Decentralization,Fiscal Independence,and Poverty in the Philippines

Decentralization is a common public sector reform in developing countries. Its basic rationale is that local governments have an informational advantage regarding the needs and preferences of consumers. However, decentralization also has drawbacks. Foremost is the efficiency advantage of the central government in providing public services because of economies of scale and better access to resources. This study looked at the relationship between decentralization and poverty using data from Philippine cities and municipalities. Results suggest that decentralization, as represented by fiscal independence and measured by the share of locally sourced revenues to total local government revenues, is indeed associated with lower poverty. However, this effect is not linear—the marginal effect of decentralization on poverty diminishes as decentralization increases. Moreover, decentralization moderates the positive effect of good governance on poverty reduction and the magnitude of the relationship between poverty and decentralization is stronger in poorer municipalities than in richer ones.     

欠发达地区农村公共产品投入机制创新探析

当前,欠发达地区农村社会公共产品的供给方面存在诸多问题,已严重制约了区域经济社会的发展。要解决这些问题,必须进行机制创新:重点供给的决策机制创新、供给方式创新、行政管理制度的创新以及财政资金投入效益的创新等。     

Higher Education and the Referendum on Scottish Independence

During the course of the referendum campaign, the Scottish government argued that free tuition for Scottish and EU students symbolised Scotland's preference for universal services and was intrinsically fairer than the ‘marketised’ systems operating in the rest of the UK. Invoking principles of both social justice and pragmatism, three distinct critiques of the Scottish government's higher education policy were mounted and adopted by different policy actors for different political purposes. Following a discussion of these arguments, this article concludes that a more nuanced discussion of higher education policy in Scotland is required, focusing not just on the absence of tuition fees but also on the distribution of debt and allocation of funds across the entire education system. We also note that the focus on tuition fees policy suggests that higher education systems across the UK are set on a process of divergence, whereas there are strong pressures towards policy convergence in areas such as research policy and internationalisation.     

Scottish Independence,State Religion and the Monarchy

The plans of the Scottish Executive/Government for the independence of Scotland, which are very sketchy, are explored in relation to desire to retain the monarchy. The Scottish Parliament has expressed support for the removal of religious discrimination from succession to the throne and instituted an alternative state religion—measures which suggest an alternative relationship between religion and the monarchy will be required in an independent Scotland. Repealing the Act of Union will require decisions as to whether the monarchy remains as Christian, Protestant and Presbyterian in Scotland or whether some alternative religious or secular arrangements will be developed. Accepting the existing religious settlement of the monarchy, or varying it, will generate challenging issues for a Scottish administration that is seeking to be more religiously inclusive.     

论人的全面发展在马克思主义理论体系中的地位

人的全面发展包括人的实践活动,社会关系,各种需要,各种能力,潜能素质的全面发展人的全面发展中的“人”,既指类的发展,又指个体的发展。