Iran's foreign-policy agenda

The surprise election of Mohammed Khatami as President of Iran on 23 May 1997 has prompted much speculation about a change in the country’s domestic agenda. Change in Iran’s foreign-policy agenda is likely to be determined by internal rivalries between moderates and radicals and by the reactions of Iran’s neighbours to the new President’s moves. Although Khatami’s freedom of manoeuvre is limited, modest improvements in relations with pro-Western Saudi Arabia and Egypt might eventually herald some movement in Iran’s relations with the US.     

Trump's Jerusalem Move

The Trump administration’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognise that city as Israel's capital appears to be strongly influenced by US domestic political considerations. Though welcomed by the Israeli right, the move has attracted widespread regional and international condemnation and outraged the Palestinian leadership. It is unlikely to lead to promising Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the final status of the Palestinian territories, and could significantly degrade security in the region.     

Trump's FEMA administrator appointment: The pick he got correct

Donald Trump has made many controversial appointments since taking the office of President of the United States of America. Many of his appointees have had little to no experience in their substantive area. Some even argue that many of his appointees received their jobs from patronage. One glaring exception is Brock Long's appointment as Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Long served as the Director of the Alabama Emergency Agency, the state level equivalent of FEMA. Given that he is an experience public servant, Long may prove to be of the better appointments made by President Trump.     

Donald Trump's Hijacking of the Republican Party in Historical Perspective

Four aspects of Donald Trump's hijack of the Republican party are examined. First, how he used unconventional techniques, usually associated with some ‘reality’ television programmes, to become the leading candidate in the pre‐primary debates. He could thereby develop ‘momentum’ before the primaries began despite his limited support among Republican activists. Second, how his insurgency differed from the party's takeover in 1964 by supporters of Barry Goldwater. Third, how the Republicans have replaced the Democrats since the early 1980s as the party with a less cohesive potential coalition among voters, with the result that internal party relations became more conflictual throughout the period. Finally, that internal conflict has been intensified by two factors in those decades: the prevalence of divided government, which has made it virtually impossible to impose a truly conservative agenda on federal government policy, and the impact of forty years of stagnating real incomes for many middle‐income Americans.     

美国总统特朗普执政与公共政策的秩序维度

美国总统特朗普2017年1月20日宣誓任职后一周内发布了很多行政命令和政策指针。看起来特朗普总统的第一周非常有成绩,但其内在地存在很多秩序维度的冲突。这将使特朗普的执政在第一周看起来很顺利,但实际上隐含着内在的秩序冲突和阻力。本文从秩序维度,分析了特朗普执政第一周所内含的秩序维度的冲突,并展望特朗普总统未来的执政之路会充满秩序维度的冲突,很多政策很可能停留在纸面,而一旦得到有效执行,必将面临更多的来自秩序维度的冲突和阻力,既给美国带来很多麻烦,也给这个世界的公民和其他国家带来很多麻烦。从中可以看出,现实的公共政策并不是理性决策的过程,而是秩序维度的冲突和博弈的过程。     

An exploration of Donald Trump's allegations of massive voter fraud in the 2016 General Election

As Republican candidate for president and later 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly and vociferously that the 2016 General Election was tainted by massive voter fraud. Here we use aggregate election statistics to study Trump's claims and focus on non-citizen populations across the country, state-specific allegations directed at California, New Hampshire, and Virginia, and the timing of election results. Consistent with existing literature, we do not uncover any evidence supportive of Trump's assertions about systematic voter fraud in 2016. Our results imply neither that there was no fraud at all in the 2016 General Election nor that this election's administration was error-free. They do strongly suggest, however, that the expansive voter fraud concerns espoused by Donald Trump and those allied with him are not grounded in any observable features of the 2016 election.     

Public policy for dangerous inventions

This study explores the relationship between dangerous invention characteristics and US local, state, and federal government safety policy-making patterns and effectiveness. When an invention prototype appears and its existence is recognized, an initial policy direction is established quickly if the invention is treated by society as being similar to a previous way of doing things. In this case the invention's dangers will be regulated within the established legal and administrative framework. If an invention is perceived as being entirely new, its introduction tends to be followed by governmental inaction for years or even decades. When government finally responds it is likely to be at the federal level.     

新形势下如何提高党员队伍的两个素质

党的十七届四中全会对加强和改进新形势下党的建设作出重大部署,提出了明确要求。作为一名党建工作者要准确把握时代的新发展新变化,深刻认识检察党建工作面临的新机遇新挑战,不断适应人民群众对检察党建工作的新期待新要求。     

Antecedents of task performance: An examination of transformation leadership,team communication,team creativity,and team trust

Higher education requires best leaders and collaborative environment to stimulate staff and student because of facing more challenges and to make the educational institutions remain relevant in a competitive global context. Considering the fruitful academic outcome, ideal leadership style and collaborative work are essential among teachers and students. Therefore, an empirical study was performed to investigate the effect of transformational leadership and team communication on task performance. The proposed model was verified by quantitative study to clarify the complex relationship between predicators and outcomes. Research data were collected from a sample of 273 master students from the University of Science and Technology of China. The collected data were examined through partial least square analysis technique. The results suggested that team perception of transformation leadership has positive effect on team communication and team trust to measure high task performance. In addition, team communication has positive effect on team trust, whereas team trust has a significant effect on team creativity, which enhances the task performance.     

A swing vote from the ethnic backstage: The role of German American isolationist tradition for Trump's 2016 victory

We question the growing consensus in the literature that European Americans behave as a homogenous pan-ethnic coalition of voters. Seemingly below the radar of scholarship on voting groups in American politics, we identify a group of white voters that behaves differently from others: German Americans, the largest ethnic group, regionally concentrated in the ‘Swinging Midwest’. Using county level voting returns, ancestry group information from the American Community Survey (ACS), current survey data and historical census data going back as early as 1910, we provide evidence for a partisan and a non-partisan pathway that motivated German Americans to vote for Trump in 2016: a historically grown association with the Republican Party and an acquired taste for isolationist attitudes that mobilizes non-partisan German Americans to support isolationist candidates. Our findings indicate that European American experiences of migration and integration still echo into the political arena of today.