To Elect or Not to Elect: Leaders,Alternation in Power and Social Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper investigates whether and how multiparty elections, introduced in many African countries since the early 1990s, affect a government’s commitment to welfare policies. We hypothesise that contested multiparty elections and turnovers between different leaders and political forces in government – even when democratic standards are not met – positively impact the promotion of social welfare. We test these hypotheses through a cross-sectional and time-series research design, making use of our new, comprehensive ‘Africa Leadership Change’ (ALC) dataset. Empirical results confirm that leaders elected through multiparty elections and countries that experience political alternations in government are associated with higher levels of social welfare.     

区域协调发展是强国必由之路

"十一五"规划将是指导我国全面协调可持续发展、全面实现小康社会的纲领性文件.我国西部大开发将会进一步深入展开,与东北部的振兴、中部崛起和东部率先发展,共同形成更加波澜壮阔的雄伟建设画面.     

Deserving Shelter: Conditional Access to Accommodation for Rejected Asylum Seekers in Austria,the Netherlands,and Sweden

Abstract

Limitations in access to welfare services for noncitizens of a host country are structured through conditional entitlements, which require benefit claimants to meet certain conditions to access welfare services. This article explores the conditions and regulations determining access to state-organized accommodation facilities for non-removed rejected asylum seekers in Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden and the way in which these conditions are implemented. Based on qualitative interviews with stakeholders and analysis of policy documents, I argue that qualities of deservingness, such as vulnerability and performance, determine noncitizens’ access to state-provided accommodation, which strengthens the logic of migration control.     

Competing for Foreign Direct investment: Efforts to Promote Nontraditional FDI in Costa Rica, Brazil, and Chile

This article examines government efforts in Costa Rica, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and Chile to promote nontraditional foreign direct investment (FDI). Rather than attempting to account for the overall level of FDI attracted, this article seeks to explain the ability of governments to develop a well-targeted, responsive, and sustained strategy specifically to attract nontraditional FDI. It concludes that three independent variables play an important role in making some governments more effective than others at developing strategies to promote nontraditional FDI. These are the extent of the government's autonomy from special interest groups, both domestic and foreign; the extent of the government's transnational learning capacity; and the extent to which there is an ideological consensus among political parties in the country or state in favor of working closely with the business community. Roy C. Nelson is an associate professor of International Studies at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management. He is currently completing a book entitledHarnessing Globalization: The Promotion of Nontraditional Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America.     

深化党际交往 共谋合作共赢——中共中央政治局委员、书记处书记、中组部部长李源潮访问摩尔多瓦、匈牙利、西班牙三国纪行

2008年11月14-23日，中共中央政治局委员、书记处书记、中组部部长李源潮应摩尔多瓦共产党人党、匈牙利社会党、西班牙工人社会党的邀请率中共代表团对上述三国进行友好访问。     

友谊、互信与合作之旅--吴官正出访欧洲四国纪行

应马耳他、瑞典、芬兰和白俄罗斯政府的邀请,中共中央政治局常委、中央纪委书记吴官正2005年9月15日至28日对上述四国进行了友好访问.中联部部长王家瑞,中央纪委副书记夏赞忠,中央纪委常委、秘书长干以胜,中央纪委常委、最高人民法院副院长沈德咏,陕西省委副书记、省纪委书记董雷等陪同进行了访问.