从新加坡的发展看智缘政治的兴起

在知识经济社会 ,决定一个国家综合国力的主要力量将是一个国家占有资源及利用资源的知识和技能。知识经济的发展不仅加速了大国实力对比变化 ,而且也为一些经济基础较好、勇于进取的发展中国家提供了发展的契机 ,新加坡的异军突起就是一个很好的例子。中国面临这一新的机遇和挑战 ,应积极采取措施 ,跟上知识经济时代的潮流。     

Economic Models in Politics: An Introduction

The constitutional future of the European Union (EU) has attracted many scholars in economics and political science to apply their knowledge on political institutions and propose concrete suggestions. We highlight that economists and political scientists proceed quite differently in this endeavour and suggest that, due to this, they also are exposed to different pitfalls. We illustrate this by critically assessing specific proposals made in the context of the proposed constitution for the EU.     

The Uneven Performance of Third Wave Democracies: Electoral Politics and the Imperfect Rule of Law in Latin America

This article investigates the performance of the new democracies of the third wave by developing a conceptual model of the core elements of liberal democratic government and by constructing a new Database of Liberal Democratic Performance. The performance is shown to be uneven in two main ways. First, the institutional attributes of democratic government advance while individual and minority rights languish. Second, particular institutional attributes coexist uncomfortably, as do particular rights. A comparison of Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala complements the big picture drawn from the database and focuses on the specific contextual conditions that can create the general political contours of the wave. The uneven democratic performance of these cases is mainly explained by the combination of persistent oligarchic power and a largely unaccountable military. Yet uneven performance, and the imperfect rule of law in particular, does not necessarily prevent democratic survival.     

Constructing Reform Coalitions: The Politics of Compensations in Argentina's Economic Liberalization

It is frequently argued that the key to "successful" economic liberalization is to marginalize interest groups that profit from existing regulatory regimes. This paper contends that some established interests can craft public policies to protect their rents in the new market setting. The state may shape the interests of social actors and create proreform constituencies out of old populist and interventionist groups. In Argentina, this coalition building was achieved by constructing reform policies that granted rents in new markets to business and organized labor and by deliberately avoiding unilateral deregulation in sectors where reform would hurt traditionally powerful actors. This argument is developed through a comparative analysis of policy reform in the labor market institutions and protected industrial sectors, areas where the costs of deregulation are said to be unavoidable for the established actors.     

Panama's Special Economic Zones: Balancing Growth and Development

The growth of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the Global South has been widespread and well documented. This article provides a comparative analysis of two SEZs in Panama that defy conventional export‐processing strategies by focussing on re‐exports and regional headquartering operations, which are relatively capital‐intensive rather than labour‐intensive. I argue that while this may be a sound economic growth strategy at the national scale, it must be complemented with directed, local strategies to address the country's chronic social development issues, which are underscored by centuries of institutional exclusion.     

东亚经济合作的进展及其对地区经济增长的影响

当前,东亚经济合作已经成为一个引人瞩目的议题,由东盟十国和中、日、韩三国组成的东亚"10 3"合作框架正在向制度化方向发展,这是一种南南型与南北型合作模式相结合的混合型合作模式,对东亚地区的经济增长将起到重要的作用.本文在对相关概念进行界定的基础上,对东亚经济合作的发展进程进行了回顾,对合作各方,特别是中国与日本这两个大国的作用和动机进行了详细分析,并且对"10 3"框架内的南南型和南北型合作的内容及其对地区经济增长的影响进行了探讨.     

Left of Eden: The Changing Politics of Economic Inequality in Contemporary Germany

This article explores the changing politics of economic inequality in Germany and its relationship to the transformation of the German Left. During the post-war ‘Economic Miracle’, few saw economic inequality as cause for concern. Though inequalities existed, their economic impact and political significance were masked by the fact that workers' incomes were increasing and unemployment was rare. During the past two decades, by contrast, labour-market liberalisation and the increased political salience of rising economic inequality have changed the German political landscape in several ways, including the emergence of Die Linke, a far-Left party committed to economic redistribution. The article argues that this change represents more than a simple shift ‘to the Left’; instead, it reflects an important rethinking of the post-war ‘Social Market Economy’, its ability to reconcile equity and economic growth, and the politically acceptable range of public policies designed to alleviate economic inequality and exclusion.     

Unpacking Thailand's southern conflict: The poverty of structural explanations

Despite its importance and timeliness Peter Gowan's article “Triumphing toward International Disaster” falls short insofar as it fails to locate “American Grand Strategy” in the context of the global social relations of the capitalist order; particularly problematic is the way that he takes for granted the constitution of “global politics” as a system of nation-states. In our response we try to draw out some of the inconsistencies in Gowan's analysis by engaging the state-centeredness of his argument and discussing some of the implications of this for critical engagement with the changing world order and the current global crisis.     

Territorialising Sustainable Development: The Politics of Land-use Planning in Laos

Since the emergence of the sustainable development paradigm in the late 1980s, land-use planning has become a key arena for political debates over society-environment interactions and, in practice, an important means for territorialisation projects. The paper reviews the main planning approaches that have been employed over the past three decades in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, a country that has long been viewed as a valuable policy testing ground for the proponents of sustainable development. It highlights three concurrent territorialisation projects that have shaped the history of land-use planning and have fuelled tensions between central and subnational governments and local actors, national and foreign institutions, and land suitability and sustainability approaches. The paper argues that the latter tensions reflect an important dynamism and reactivity in the planning arena. It concludes that the capacity of land-use planners to adapt to specific contexts and evolving socio-environmental challenges should be harnessed in order to reconcile conflicting approaches to planning and, perhaps, to achieve sustainable development.     

Diplomatic Objectives in Trade Politics: The Development of the China-Japan-Korea FTA

This article seeks to analyze the development of free trade agreement (FTA) policies adopted by China, Japan, and South Korea with particular interests in the trilateral FTA. It seeks to address what the determinant factors that have conditioned the development of the trilateral FTA are. While the three governments began the informal joint study of the trilateral FTA in 2003, they pursued diverse trade strategies that disturbed a shift to formal negotiations. However, China's strategy to hedge against the US influence in East Asia became a catalyst in shifting from the long-lasting study stage to the launching of negotiations. Moreover, Japan's strategy to participate in TPP negotiations as a soft balancing against China through closer political linkages with the United States weakened China's and South Korea's willingness to engage in the trilateral FTA positively. Thus, the three countries’ commitments to the trilateral FTA were primarily confined by their specific diplomatic objectives responding to the political-economic evolutions in the Asia-Pacific region.     

Building Democracy to Last: The Turkish Experience in Comparative Perspective

This study analyses the relationship between checks and balances and democracy, focusing on Turkey in comparative perspective. In a large-N setting, the effects of checks and balances on the quality of democracy are examined. The findings reinforce the essential relationship between democracy and checks and balances. The article then discusses the implications of the the findings for Turkey. It stresses the need for horizontal accountability via checks and balances vested in different state agencies. In addition to state-level checks and balances, the importance of societal actors as sources of accountability is also elaborated. The study identifies the need for vertical accountability, not only through free elections but also by creating a political setting in which pluralistic media and civil society can thrive. In light of findings, the article stresses the need for a new constitutional framework that can embrace both state- and societal-level checks and balances.     

The Lost Sexenio: Vicente Fox and the New Politics of Economic Reform in Mexico

The 2000 presidential election of opposition candidate Vicente Fox signaled an end to seven decades of Mexico's single-party regime and seemed to herald the advent of truly competitive politics. But by 2003, economic reform had largely stalled, and Fox's party suffered a historically unprecedented midterm' loss in the congress. This article analyzes the underpinnings of policy gridlock in the Fox administration. Fox inherited the need for microeconomic restructuring and increased competitiveness, more innovative and pragmatic state policies, the need to pay attention to the country's sharp income inequalities, and the challenge of crafting a political strategy that could build a middle ground and foster policy consensus. With his party's minority standing in the congress, Fox was constrained from the start by divided government. But more effective statecraft and coalition building would have helped. These will be essential elements for the success of any post-Fox regime.     

Asymmetrical Regionalism: China,Southeast Asia and Uneven Development

Does the rise of China present a threat or an opportunity for Southeast Asia? One of the most revealing arenas in which this will be determined will be within the context of regional institution-building. For a region that is perennially associated with under-institutionalisation it is remarkable just how many initiatives have been proposed recently. Such institutions, may be important venues within which ‘asymmetric regionalism’ may be manifest and perhaps managed. The paper provides an assessment of this process through an analysis of China’s relationship with Southeast Asia. The paper initially provides a brief theoretical introduction which explains the relationship between regional development and its possible impact on inter-state relations. Following this I provide an analysis of the political economic and strategic dynamics that are shaping and being shaped by regional initiatives. Finally, I assess how successful ASEAN’s efforts have been to engage China via regional mechanisms has actually been.     

When the Party's Over. The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze in Perspective

When the Party's Over. The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze in Perspective. Edited by Christopher Hood, David Heald, Rozana Himaz (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), £60.00 (cloth).     

区域经济一体化进程中的中国与东盟文化合作:发展、特点及前瞻

在区域经济一体化深度推进的同时,中国与东盟的国际文化合作也快速拓展。从国际文化交流、文化贸易及文化产业国际合作等三个层面与双边和多边两方面来分析,可将其发展历程分为1991—2000年的奠基与2001年以来的制度化合作两个时期。笔者通过研究发现,尽管双方文化合作呈加快势头,但主要文化产品贸易份额仍偏低,整体上处于初级阶段;在动因及效果方面呈现政府主导、经济推动、网状关联、空间集中等特点。鉴于人文合作对自由贸易区建设等经贸合作具有促进作用,同时区域经济一体化亦需要国际文化合作,国际合作进程中文化与经济呈一体化趋势,故中国—东盟区域文化合作应进一步增强。