Piecemeal Reform in Plato's Laws

Karl Popper has called Plato a dangerous Utopian who offers an unworldly blueprint for society. I argue that, in making this criticism, Popper offers an incomplete reading of Plato's political thought, overlooking the more worldly and modest blueprint of the Laws. In addition, I show that a better understanding of the relationship between the Republic and the Lans - between Plato's philosophical ideal and politically best possible state - demonstrates the necessity of considering Plato's Laws in any discussion of implementation. In fact, a more complete reading of Plato is required by the very criteria Popper employs in advancing his critique. When the political programme of Plato's Laws is viewed in light of Popper's famous distinction between piecemeal social engineering and Utopian social engineering, the problems of applying these characterizations to Plato become apparent.     

Knowledge and Law in Plato's Laws

Although at one time the nocturnal council, discussed in Book XII of the Laws , was widely viewed as inconsistent with institutions presented in the earlier books, Glenn Morrow apparently solved this problem, in Plato's Cretan City , and his interpretation is accepted by most recent scholars. I revisit the case for inconsistency. As interpreted by Morrow, the nocturnal council is charged with attempting to improve the laws of Magnesia, through application of philosophic knowledge. However, textual evidence demonstrates that, at one point while he was writing the work, Plato was committed to the rule of all but unchanging laws, and to the extent laws were subject to revision, the nocturnal council played no role in this process. Unlike other inconsistencies in the Laws , this is a major conflict. Although we cannot be sure how to explain it, the most likely explanation posits a change of plans on Plato's part, the philosophical implications of which he did not fully work out.     

论柏拉图《泰阿泰德》中知识的等级

柏拉图的《泰阿泰德》篇以苏格拉底为泰阿泰德"精神助产"为线索,对"知识是什么"的问题展开了"对话"。对话中苏格拉底相继引导但又驳斥了泰阿泰德关于知识的三种定义,且最终也没有得到答案。试图以"整体论"的视角对《泰阿泰德》篇进行解读,认为关于"知识是什么"的问题虽然没有得出结论,但通过对文本分析可以发现《泰阿泰德》篇中对知识的定义是不断上升的,并且通过离题话的讨论,得出最高形式的智慧。     

The European Council and The Council of the European Union: Shapers of a European Confederation

The European Council and the Council of the European Union playkey roles in the European Union. The European Council is largelyconcerned with system-steering, while the Council of the EUundertakes sectoral policymaking. What is common to these rolesis the balancing act carried out by both institutions. Bothhave to mediate the centripetal dynamics of integration, termedcooperative confederalism here, and the centrifugal dynamicswhich are found in the strongly entrenched territorial natureof power, centered on the member states. Using new institutionalistanalysis, the article illuminates different facets of the twoinstitutions1 functioning in mediating the two dynamics.     

The Council: An Institutional Chameleon?

Council reform is a topic that has become a key issue in the wider discussion about reshaping the institutions of the European Union. This article explores five different images of the Council: as a partner of the Commission; as a club of governments; as a venue for competition and bargaining between governments and other political actors; as an arena for networked governance; and as a consortium for developing "transgovernmental" collaboration. It is conventional to examine the Council as both executive and legislative in character. More interesting, perhaps, is its evolving practice as a forum for experimentation.     

The Lost Treasure of Arendt's Council System

Abstract

Hannah Arendt's On Revolution offers a critique of modern representative democracy combined with a manifesto-like treatise on council systems as they have arisen over the course of revolutions and uprisings. However, Arendt's contribution to democratic theory has been obscured by her commentators who argue that her reflections on democracy are either an aberration in her work or easily reconcilable within a liberal democratic framework. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive outline of Arendt's writing on the council system and a clarification of her work outside the milieu of the post-Cold War return to Arendt. Her analyses bring to light a political system that guarantees civil and political rights while allowing all willing citizens direct participation in government. Framing her discussion within the language of the current renewed interest in constituent power, her council system could be described as a blending together of constituent power and constitutional form. Arendt resists the complete dominance and superiority of either element and argues that the foundation of a free state requires nothing less than the stabilization and persistence of constituent power within an open and fluid institution that would resist either the bureaucratization of politics or its dispersal into a revolutionary flux. Although one may conclude that her institutional suggestions are far from flawless, her political principles allow a conceptualization of democracy in more substantial ways than current liberal political philosophy.     

The French Constitutional Council: A Study in Institutional Change

Embodying a revolution in French constitutional law. in principle, the Constitutional Council initially seemed destined for a marginal role. However, a 1971 decision constitutionalizing the Preamble to the constitution and the 1974 revision extending access to 60 parliamentarians transformed its prospects. Initially devised to keep Parliament in its place, it is now a force to be reckoned with at every stage in the policy process but its constraints are felt mainly by the executive. Its jurisprudence displays a blend of audacity and prudence. combining ambitious developments in respect of human rights and national independence with cautious awareness of its vulnerability as a recent creation arbitrating controversial issues within a system traditionally antipathetic to 'government by the judges'.     

Political Philosophy and Sophistry: An Introduction to Plato's Protagoras

This study of Plato's Protagoras seeks not only to advance the understanding of ancient sophistry, a task both important in its own right and essential to the study of the history of political thought, but also to lay a foundation for subsequent inquiries into the connection between ancient sophistry and the relativism characteristic of our age. According to the Protagoras , the chief difference between philosopher and sophist is that the latter wrongly believes himself to be beyond or above the concern for justice as a virtue; the examination of Protagoras' moral teaching, then, proves to be the key to understanding him and therewith the intellectual position he represents .     

The determinants of election to the United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the foremost international body responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. Members vote on issues of global importance and consequently receive perks—election to the UNSC predicts, for instance, World Bank and IMF loans. But who gets elected to the UNSC? Addressing this question empirically is not straightforward as it requires a model that allows for discrete choices at the regional and international levels; the former nominates candidates while the latter ratifies them. Using an original multiple discrete choice model to analyze a dataset of 180 elections from 1970 to 2005, we find that UNSC election appears to derive from a compromise between the demands of populous countries to win election more frequently and a norm of giving each country its turn. We also find evidence that richer countries from the developing world win election more often, while involvement in warfare lowers election probability. By contrast, development aid does not predict election.     

透视中国商标法

因为忽视中国现存商标的巨大价值和商标侵权对于中国企业的损害,并且商标权保护的客体不包含创造性工作的这一特点,对中国知识产权保护进行研究的美国学错误地认为,中国政府没有保护商标权的需要。在不同的经济、化、政府结构和历史因素的共同作用下,中国和美国的商标保护体系在商标权的客体、对于商标产品的质量要求、商标登记和侵权的救济等多方面存在差异。这些差异有些反映了中国商标保护的不足之处,有些却是由中国现状所决定的。根据经济发展和消费的需要,中国商标保护制度将会越来越完善。     

Urban local government finance in Zimbabwe: The case of Harare City Council

Since Zimbabwe won its independence in 1980, the country's leaders have embarked on an ambitious programme of decentralization and local government reform. At the same time, urban conditions in the country have become increasingly difficult. This paper examines major aspects of urban local government finances in this environment of reform and growing fiscal pressures, with special reference to the experience of Harare City Council. It is argued that some relative successes have been recorded, although a number of undesirable elements of colonial practices and various fiscal problem persist.     

Rural local government finance in Kenya: The case of Murang'a County Council

The Murang'a County Council is recognized in Kenya as one of the country's most effective rural local authorities. Compared to other county councils, Murang'a raises substantial revenues and provides a wide variety of services. This case study presents some background on the local economy of Murang'a District, details available information about the county council's excellent fiscal performance, and highlights some of the major factors behind the effectiveness of Murang'a in resource mobilization and service delivery.