Intelligence reform: The logic of information sharing

A cornerstone of US intelligence reform is ‘information sharing’ as a means of adapting to contemporary security challenges. It was a central recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, reflected in the wide-ranging ‘Information Sharing Environment’ mandated by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Yet the underlying logic of information sharing for intelligence reform has received little attention. Drawing on information and communications theory, this paper critiques the logic by highlighting problems of sense-making and interpretation overlooked amid the scholarly enthusiasm for an intelligence ‘culture of sharing’. With their impersonal, technical, and highly bureaucratic approach, today's reforms may favor the flow of information and its sheer volume at the expense of the context and analytic tradecraft that render it meaningful, actionable intelligence. For effective information sharing, the paper suggests reformers pay more attention to the socio-technical environment of analysis when interpreting ambiguous, uncertain information.     

地方主义的行动逻辑

由于地区经济、政治、文化等发不平衡 ,中国地方主义表现明显。也正是地方主义的存在 ,良好的经济社会环境就受到严重的阻碍。但地方主义为何会出现且表现得如此普遍呢 ?又该如何去克服呢 ?本文试图利用奥尔森的公共选择理论对中国地方主义的行动逻辑进行分析     

二元论的逻辑错误

从使用人工语言表示一个一元论或二元论观点入手,首先,在一阶逻辑上定义"归元谓词",并使用集合的观点改写其表达式;其次,运用"归元谓词"定义一元论和二元论,并指出二元论的逻辑错误;然后将以上观点运用于对一个实例的分析,即对试图使用哥德尔定理反驳强人工智能观点的工作加以反驳;最后得出结论:讨论"世界本原"问题是无意义的,一个一元论仅仅是在承认空集存在的意义上被我们接受。     

Current practices for procuring affordable housing: The Canadian context

Abstract

This article describes the current housing system in Canada, focusing particularly on the various mechanisms still available for providing affordable housing. Beginning with an overview of the Canadian housing system, it provides a brief history of Canadian housing policy and program initiatives instrumental in developing the inventory of affordable housing available today.

Current practices and procedures in private lending for affordable housing are highlighted. A discussion of current initiatives available to provide affordable housing follows, with a focus on the role of government, the third sector, and new partnership arrangements implemented to encourage more affordable housing. The conclusion highlights recent changes, the current state of the affordable housing sector, and the impact these changes may have on low‐ and moderate‐income households in Canada.     

The logic of anti-Zionism: Soviet elites in the aftermath of the Six-Day War

Despite the opening of Soviet archives, and the surge in scholarly interest in anti-Zionism, scholars have not used declassified archive documents to shed new light on Soviet anti-Zionism in the wake of the Six-Day War. Based on such documents, Gjerde’s article challenges a view of post-1967 Soviet anti-Zionism that has been prevalent since it emerged during the Cold War: that it represented a ‘disguised’ form of antisemitism that Soviet leaders used as a political tool. To the contrary, Gjerde argues, the archive documents suggest Soviet anti-Zionism was more than a propaganda invention. Within higher Soviet echelons, a particular logic existed that fostered a view of ‘Zionism’ as an immense, conspiratorial threat to the Soviet Union. In one sense, this logic grew out of a more general tendency to view nonconformity as conspiracy: the Soviets had established extremely narrow boundaries for what constituted acceptable Jewish identity; and, when some Soviet Jews began to voice nationalist sentiments after the Six-Day War, Soviet leaders saw this expression of nonconformity as essentially a hostile act, warranting severe counter-measures. This is not to say Soviet anti-Zionism was not antisemitic but rather that to explain it merely as a propaganda tool is to ignore much of the complexity of its emergence.     

The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries

Abstract This paper addresses the arguments in favour of both the decentralization and centralization of public policy making. It points out that the same arguments are sometimes used to advance either claim and that in different countries opposite arguments are used to support the same claim. Clearly, the inherent features of centralization and decentralization are far from obvious. A closer look at the attention given to the issue by political parties at the national level in four European countries reveals that decentralization becomes an issue in these countries at different periods and as a cause of different arguments, which rather reflect the dominant values in the political culture than refer to inherent properties of decentralization itself. An analysis of opinions of local elites points at the relation between their opinion on decentralizing responsibilities in a specific field and the support for existing institutional arrangements, their own influence in the policy field and the predisposition towards decentralization tendencies. This results in the conclusion that the support for decentralization tendencies is more closely related to existing specific institutional arrangements, and to the degree to which it is expected to influence one's own position, than to its inherent merits.     

The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries

This paper addresses the arguments in favour of both the decentralization and centralization of public policy making. It points out that the same arguments are sometimes used to advance either claim and that in different countries opposite arguments are used to support the same claim. Clearly, the inherent features of centralization and decentralization are far from obvious. A closer look at the attention given to the issue by political parties at the national level in four European countries reveals that decentralization becomes an issue in these countries at different periods and as a cause of different arguments, which rather reflect the dominant values in the political culture than refer to inherent properties of decentralization itself. An analysis of opinions of local elites points at the relation between their opinion on decentralizing responsibilities in a specific field and the support for existing institutional arrangements, their own influence in the policy field and the predisposition towards decentralization tendencies. This results in the conclusion that the support for decentralization tendencies is more closely related to existing specific institutional arrangements, and to the degree to which it is expected to influence one's own position, than to its inherent merits.     

马克思和谐社会思想的历史、逻辑和方法

马克思和谐社会思想是历史与逻辑统一的产物,其原因除了历史为马克思和谐社会思想制造了理论前提外,从理论逻辑方面看,那就是马克思始终遵循科学的方法论原则:坚持科学与价值的统一、发展和批判的统一、矛盾分析方法和阶级分析方法的统一。马克思和谐社会思想方法论对于构建有中国特色社会主义的和谐社会有重大指导意义。     

政府与社会组织关系演进的历史逻辑

从总体性二元合一走向分化性二元合一,解决分化与耦合两个方面的问题,是中国政府与社会组织关系演进的总体态势。运用结构功能主义视角,可以发现,演进历经让渡与承接、规范与依附、激活与协同等阶段,由政府与社会组织的功能性界分,到基于责任结构整合的政会功能黏附,逐渐发展为基于全面结构整合的政会功能分化与耦合。演进的基本逻辑,是政府主导下功能演变与结构调整的互动,即由政府主导的演进轨道、由功能演变与结构调整互动而构成的演进机制。展望未来,分化性二元合一体系的完善,必须按照现代国家治理的要求,在政府与社会组织之间打造共建、共治与共享的结构功能系统,实现基于责任结构契合的功能目标一致、基于权力结构合理的功能形式耦合、基于利益结构规范的功能输出互益。     

大学生党建工作进宿舍的思考与实践

学生宿舍是学生学习、生活和休息的主要场所,是大学校园文化的重要组成部分,将大学生党员的培养和教育工作向生活园区沿伸,是一个值得研究并具有重要现实意义的话题。本文认为在大学生党建工作进宿舍的过程中,应明确学生正式党支部与生活园区的党员活动站、临时党支部的不同,认清学生正式党支部的组织生活、支部活动与生活园区学生党员活动的差别,合理定位,依托合适的载体来取得实效。     

自我革命：跳出历史周期率新答案形成的思想逻辑

毛泽东提出“让人民来监督政府”的民主新路和习近平提出坚持自我革命的思想,构成中国共产党人思考和求解历史周期率问题的先后两个答案。自我革命的第二个答案是对民主新路的第一个答案的继承和发展。从政府路径到政党视域的拓展,从优良作风到显著标志的明确,从外向他律到内向自律的深入,从“两个务必”到“三个不变”的归结,体现了中国共产党人在思考和求解跳出周期率问题答案中思想升华的发展逻辑。在赶考之路上,从毛泽东给出的第一个答案到习近平给出的第二个答案,中国共产党人对跳出历史周期率充满自信和底气。赶考永远在路上,把坚持自我革命与坚持敢于斗争相结合,中国共产党人必定能交上一份打破历史周期率的新时代优异答卷。