Neither New nor Right

Vu de Droite. By A. de Benoist. Paris: Copernic, 1977. Pp. 626.

Les idées à l'endroit. By A. de Benoist. Paris: Editions libres, Hallier. 1979. Pp. 298.

La Nouvelle Droite. Edited by J. Brunn. Paris: Oswald. 1979. Pp. 391.     

Neither Hayek nor Habermas

The rise of the blogosphere raises important questions about the elicitation and aggregation of information, and about democracy itself. Do blogs allow people to check information and correct errors? Can we understand the blogosphere as operating as a kind of marketplace for information along Hayekian terms? Or is it a vast public meeting of the kind that Jurgen Habermas describes? In this article, I argue that the blogosphere cannot be understood as a Hayekian means for gathering dispersed knowledge because it lacks any equivalent of the price system. I also argue that forces of polarization characterize the blogosphere as they do other social interactions, making it an unlikely venue for Habermasian deliberation, and perhaps leading to the creation of information cocoons. I conclude by briefly canvassing partial responses to the problem of polarization.     

Parliament and Political Disengagement: Neither Waving nor Drowning

Concern about political disengagement is prevalent in British politics, and this article seeks to examine what the Westminster Parliament has been doing to address it. Recent reforms and recommendations from various parliamentary committees are examined, including increased use of the Internet to disseminate information about Parliament, the use of online consultation mechanisms, and the tentative extension of parliament's petitioning processes. The discussion is couched in the representative origins of Parliament, its adaptation to democratic politics and the extent to which its response to political disengagement is contextualised by its representational, rather than its democratic, role. The article addresses whether Parliament can approach these issues in a 'holistic' fashion, and as a 'unified' institution within the political system.     

Neither decline nor sclerosis: The organisational structure of the German environmental movement

The conventional view of the life‐course of social movements is that they institutionalise, develop hierarchical structures and, as a consequence, de‐radicalise. This article assesses this image by examining the recent history of the German environmental movement, using two surveys of national and Berlin‐based environmental groups. The analysis suggests that there are no indications of a decline or sclerosis in the movement. Contrary to what some observers have claimed, we find at least a stable number of groups, an increase in the size of their membership and other resources, as well as the maintenance of a decentralised movement structure. Moreover, empirical evidence does not lend support to the idea that the movement, at the aggregate level, has been pacified in terms of its protest.     

Neither treason nor conspiracy: Reflections on media coverage of the Gulf war 1990–1991

Conflicts such as the Gulf war of 1990–1991 raise a range of issues pertaining to the role of force in the foreign policies of democratic states, and to the role of the media during such conflicts. The controversies that raged over the Gulf war tended to fuse these questions: those opposed to the War saw the media as collusive with illegitimate western policies, whilst those backing war tended to regard the media as either supportive, or not supportive enough, of the western campaign. This article focuses upon three aspects of this media coverage: first, the character of that coverage itself; second, the issues upon which, with hindsight, distortion can be said to have occurred; and third, the political and ethical issues raised in discussion of the media coverage. This analysis, of the functioning of the media during war, serves both to probe underlying assumptions about the functions of the media in democratic society and to re‐examine debate on one of the most controversial international events of recent times.     

Neither skepticism nor romanticism: the ASEAN Regional Forum as a solution for the Asia-Pacific Assurance Game

Abstract

This article fills the void left by the existing literature that has failed to capture the utilities of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to the member states. From a rational institutionalist perspective, this article argues that the ARF is an institutional solution for a particular type of collective-action problem – the Assurance Game – that emerged in the post-Cold War Asia-Pacific region. In the Assurance Game, a weak and loose institution is sufficient because cooperation only requires efficient information transmission among players. This conception of the ARF finds empirical support in various features as well as the birth process of the multilateral institution. Thus, neither structural realists' skepticism nor constructivists' romanticism toward the ARF is warranted.     

Thailand's political direction

During the current decade, domestic political crisis and the death of its much-beloved king have rendered Thailand introverted. There may now be scope for a return to consensus-based political stability that would allow Thailand to better balance its relations with major powers and resume a more assertive regional role.     

Neither Seen Nor Heard: Children's Citizenship in Contemporary Democracies*

This article addresses the subject of children's citizenship in liberal democracies. While children may lack full capability to act in the capacity of citizens, the political status to which they have been relegated leaves much to be desired. Paternalist policies dictate that children be represented politically by their parents, leaving them as or more vulnerable and excluded from private life as women were under coverture. Lacking independent representation or a voice in politics, children and their interests often fail to be understood because the adults who do represent them conflate, or substitute, their own views for those of children. Compounding this damage is the tendency for democratic societies to view children not as an ever-present segment of the populace, but rather as future adults. This encourages disregard for children's interests. Until democratic societies establish a better-defined and comprehensive citizenship for children, along with methods for representation that are sensitive to the special political circumstances faced by children, young people will remain ill-governed and neglected by democratic politics.     

After the congressional veto: Assessing the alternatives

Congressional choice of effective replacements for the recently banned legislative veto will require an accurate understanding of the actual results of the now unconstitutional device. The impact of the veto varied strikingly depending on, among other things, the type and target of the veto and on the principal sites of review in Congress itself. No single mechanism will suffice. Rather a variety of devices are available and under consideration. The underlying question raised by this analysis is which effects of the veto are worth perpetuating in light of past results and stated congressional objectives.     

Supplementary vote; analysis, applications, and alternatives

The Supplementary Vote (SV) was invented as a compromise between the two-round runoff system and the alternative vote. This paper shows that in many ways it is not. Under SV voters rank order a limited number of candidates. If one candidate is supported by over 50% of the voters he/she is declared the winner. Otherwise, all but the top two candidates are eliminated from the contest. Then, all second preferences of voters are taken into account. The candidate winning most first and second votes is declared the winner. SV violates fundamental criteria used to evaluate electoral systems and is difficult for voters. The paper discusses an alternative to SV which avoids at least some of its most apparent flaws.     

The structured value referendum: Eliciting preferences for environmental policy alternatives

This article introduces a voting-based method for eliciting public preferences, referred to as a structured value referendum (SVR). The process for developing and implementing an SVR is viewed as a version of public sector decision analysis, in which problem-structuring activities are crucial, and preference is elicited on a large scale by voters selecting among specified alternatives. The present study discusses the steps involved in developing an SVR, drawing on the problem-structuring approaches of decision analysis. Next, the advantages offered by SVR are discussed and compared to standard preference elicitation techniques or conventional referendums. A rationale for the use of SVR as an approach to preference elicitation is provided. Political judgments that differentiate SVR from other elicitation approaches are considered; the nature of the preference judgments and the required level of measurement are discussed. Concluding sections of the study discuss the implementation of an SVR for a regional government in British Columbia, in which 34,000 people voted to select among wastewater treatment alternatives for managing a potential environmental risk.     

政策动员及其在中国的转向

新中国成立后,革命战争年代形成的运动———强制式动员模式在完成国家集体化、工业化和现代化战略的过程中发挥着重要作用。文化大革命更是将这一模式运用到极致。改革后,政治动员开始向常态和制度化的政策动员转化,群众运动式的动员开始向运动式治理,强制式动员开始向诱导式动员,运动剧场的营造式动员开始向政策宣传与理论学习转化。     

萨满文化与《荒界》的审美取向

萨满文化是东北地域文化的源头,作为一种文化意识广泛渗透于东北民众的生活方武及民风习俗中,也深深影响了当代东北作家董谦的小说<荒界>的审美取向.小说中没有凄美的爱情故事,生儿育女、繁衍后代几乎是男女结合的终极目标,显现生殖崇拜观念的深刻影响.小说中塑造得最传神的女性形象兼具母性和神性的双重人格,闪烁着远古先民极度崇拜的始母神和萨满的影子.作品中女性形象几乎都是粗大、强悍、充满野性的气质.萨满教文化是<荒界>精神风貌的最权威的雕刻者,塑造了这部小说独特的审美风格.