Foreign Policy as Battlefield: A Study of National Interest and Party Motives

In no other policy arena are party unity and national unity considered as critical as in security and foreign policy. Party unity on foreign policy is viewed as a national security strategy of particular importance in times of international crisis and uncertainty, or as an expression of party strategy and ideological considerations. Through an empirical study of programs, congresses, voters and ideology of the Swedish parties 1945–1993, we show that the presence or absence of tension in the international system does not affect the inclination of parties to take issue on matters of foreign policy. We also show that parties argue just as much about issues that are central to Swedish security policy as they do about issues that do not directly affect national interest. The main sources of party disagreement over foreign policy seem to be ideologically motivated.     

Youth organizations as a Battlefield in the Cold War

In the late 1960s it was revealed that ever since 1952 the CIA had financed and was still financing, by way of a whole series of ‘screen’ foundations, the overwhelming majority of youth and student organizations, not only in the United States, but throughout the free world. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as respectable as the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), Pax Romana and the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) had benefited, at various times in their history, from the generosity and ‘liberalism’ of the CIA. The key to understanding this paradoxical American involvement in leftist organizations lies in the Soviet Union's policy of systematically infiltrating Western civil society and international organizations. Its constant aim, relentlessly pursued and never openly avowed, was to control Western opinion and further the goals of Soviet foreign policy. By 1950 the communists had succeeded in effectively controlling all the international mass organizations. This study deals with the crucial Berlin Youth Festival of 1951 and the East-West struggle for dominance in the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students (IUS).     

The geographic scope of migration in Mexico City

"This paper reports some results of analyzing migratory dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, which ever since the 1970-1980 decade have affected other regions of the country, mainly the State of Mexico. The analysis describes different types and modes of migratory movement: metropolitan (from Mexico City), inter-county (within each state), and interstate (between Mexico City and other states). Data was provided by the XI Population and Household Census of 1990." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The cholera epidemic of 1833 and mortality in Mexico City

The author examines the impact of the 1833 cholera epidemic in Mexico City, Mexico, on social, economic, and political aspects of life in that city. She finds that some five percent of the population died during the epidemic, and enumerates them by age and sex.     

Local Districts,National Contexts,and the Number of Parties

To date, electoral systems are conceptualised as setting an ‘upper bound’ to, or defining a ‘carrying capacity’ for, the number of parties or lists, and their effect is assessed at the district level. This article adds to the empirical study of electoral systems by analysing a vast database of district-level electoral returns. The argument focuses on the demand and supply of viable electoral candidates, which are conditioned by the interplay of strategic entry (by the party rank and file) and strategic voting (by the electorate). Drawing on a database of almost 18,000 electoral districts taken from 15 West European countries, the empirical analysis yields a number of insights: most specifically, (1) district magnitude only becomes binding and effective when a higher social demand meets a lower carrying capacity of the electoral district; (2) the provision of upper tiers undermines the emergence of Duvergerian equilibria within the primary electoral districts.     

高校民族团结教育的功能探析

开展民族团结教育是创新民族工作的机制、拓展民族工作载体的重要举措。高校民族团结教育不仅是高校思想政治教育的主要内容,更是培育和践行社会主义核心价值观的应有之义。当前,准确把握民族团结教育的主旋律,应当充分发挥高校在民族团结进步教育事业中的巨大作用。对高校民族团结教育的功能进行深入探究不仅价值重大,而且具有重要的现实意义。高校民族团结教育的功能主要体现为方向功能、聚合功能、激励功能、保证功能和协调功能等五个方面。     

包头市创建全国文明城市的经验与展望

全国文明城市是最具价值的城市品牌。包头市创建全国文明城市的经验值得大家学习,即首先认识到位;其次各环节到位;再次行动早又可持续。如今包头已经成为中国名列前茅之工业城市,是国家重要的基础工业基地,是内蒙古自治区最大的工业城市,也连续四届被评为中国文明城市。展望包头,城市将更文明,生活将更美好。     

The National Interest and the Federal Role in Education

The current discussion of national goals for education createsa predicament for the federal government. Political pressureis mounting for an increased federal role in education, butits ability to play this role is limited both by its own budgetand policy constraints and by the increase in education policyinitiatives of state and local government over the past tenyears. This predicament is not amenable to solution by resortto traditional doctrinal or functional views of federalism.It requires the formulation of a new federal strategy. Amongthe initiatives the federal government might take are raisingpublic discourse about educational performance, sponsoring collaborativeefforts to reduce the incoherence of current educational reformsat the high school level, and increased use of federal categoricalprograms as development projects for new approaches to teachingand learning. These initiatives have the advantage of beingconsistent with current federal budget and policy constraints,drawing upon traditional federal functions, and complementingstate and local reform efforts.     

民族区域自治地方行政管理的特点与改革

在中国政府体系中,民族区域自治地方政府既具有一般地方政府的共性,又有其自身独具的特点。特殊的行政环境、特殊的使命与职责、特殊的法律地位与权力构成等等,使民族区域自治地方政府在全国市场经济体制不断完善和行政管理改革逐步深入的背景下,承担着重要的职责和艰巨的任务。     

Viewpoint: Extraterrestrial National Territory and the International System

Analysis of the probable effects of ending the prohibition against sovereign national extraterrestrial territory in the Outer Space Treaty points to large increases in the total territories of a small number of spacefaring states as they compete in a succession of annexations that move from celestial body to celestial body. Rather than result in an increased chance of war between spacefaring states—an argument deployed by defenders of the Outer Space Treaty—extraterrestrial annexations would instead reduce its likelihood, both in the near-term because of the mutual vulnerability of human spacecraft and bases, and over the long-term by making spacefaring states less vulnerable to terrestrial warfare.     

The Role of Civil Servants in National Budgeting: An International Comparison

Beginning in October 1988, a budgeteer-exchange program has existed between Her Majesty's Treasury in the United Kingdom and the Office of Management and Budget in the United States. Cultural and constitutional differences make the jobs of the budgeteers in each country analogous but not equal. Differences that exist include organizational structure, work content, and information presentation to legislative bodies.     

The National and International Context of French Policy Communities

There are numerous, well-organized policy communities in France, based upon specialized corps of senior administrative officials in symbiosis with the environment they are responsible for regulating and managing. They also derive their strength from the integration of the groups concerned in the policy process, allowing them to compensate for the weakness of their organization and social base by the privileged access and legitimacy they acquire. Nevertheless, the traditional way in which the policy process is structured is modified by the territorial shift (both local and international) in the arenas in which public policies are made.     

北京建设世界城市文化的教育命题

教育是构成文化实力的基础,是建设世界城市"软实力"的重要内容.世界城市应该是全民学习、终身学习的学习型城市,是具有浓厚学术氛围、科学精神的创新型城市,是汇聚学术大师和各方面精英的精神家园.实施世界城市建设战略,要重视构建终身教育体系,形成学习化社会;要重视发挥大学在社会发展中的引领作用,培育大学人文精神;要尊重人才、发现人才、发展人才,提高城市核心竞争能力.学习北京、学术北京和学者北京要成为世界城市的新标志,也是新的历史时期教育的重要使命.     

民族地区学校教育与民族文化关系探究

在现代化背景下,民族地区学校教育与民族文化关系问题面临诸多困境。学校教育在民族地区的一个重要任务在于如何防止现代化的负面效应,并积极地从民族文化的保护与传承方面,解决民族成员的心理不适与精神困惑。这就要求学校教育既要传授普世性知识,又要兼顾到地方性知识,但目前实施效果并不理想。民族文化需要被重新认识,重新理解。     

The Externalities of Civil Strife: Refugees as a Source of International Conflict

Domestic strife and civil war frequently produce large population dislocations and refugee flows across national boundaries. Mass refugee flows often entail negative consequences for receiving states, particularly in developing countries. Moreover, civil violence frequently extends across national boundaries as “internal” conflicts are not constrained by borders. This article argues that refugee flows between states significantly increase the likelihood of militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) in that dyad. Refugee‐receiving states are more likely to initiate MIDs as they intervene to prevent further externalities, and refugee‐sending states initiate MIDs as they violate borders in pursuit of dissidents. Moreover, this research challenges conventional theories of international conflict that focus exclusively on distributional bargains between states. These propositions are tested in a quantitative analysis of the relationship between refugees and MID initiation, 1955–2000. Results confirm that refugees significantly increase the probability of international conflict.     

国际关系中的世界城市:世界体系论的视角

论文在简要回顾了世界体系论的主要观点的基础上,系统地总结了从世界体系角度出发的世界城市理论。该理论认为,世界城市的性质、地位和内部特征都由世界经济体系所决定,随着劳动分工、资本控制的变化而变化;在信息时代和全球化的背景下,世界城市承担着国际生产、金融和资本控制中心的职能,实现着最大化的剩余价值抽取;跨国资本阶层是世界城市的主人和主要受益者,中低收入阶层、移民等群体的处境却在恶化;世界城市由于在金融、生产性服务业和企业总部等方面的集中性程度的差异,构成了一个以中心和半边缘地带的世界城市为核心、世界其他地区为边缘的世界城市体系。论文的最后对从世界体系角度出发的世界城市理论进行了简要的总结、评论和批判。     

The population in a sociopolitical system in crisis: Mexico before the Revolution

The author reviews some of the literature on the Mexican Revolution in order to assess the impact of demographic change on the outcome of that conflict. Consideration is given to urbanization, spatial distribution, literacy, industrial growth and the employment opportunities it provided, and land conflicts caused by population growth. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

National Representation in International Organizations: The Seat Allocation Model Implicit in the European Union Council and Parliament

What determines the allocation of voting weights to member states in international organizations? What drives the seat and voting weight allocation in the European Parliament (EP) and in the Council of the European Union (EU)? Our objective in this article is to develop a universal logical model and to demonstrate that the resulting equation indeed captures negotiated outcomes on seat and voting weight allocations in EU institutions from their beginning. We predict seat and voting weight allocations for both the EP and the Council of the EU within one general model. Hence, we do not employ actual data on seat allocations or voting weights in either the EP or the Council of the EU, but instead, use logical constraints exclusively, as posed by the following elements: the total number of seats/voting weights ( S ), the number of member states ( N ) and, finally, their respective population size ( P_i ). Only our final model selection among several theoretical options is guided by empirical information. With no post hoc parameters used, our model fits both the Council of the EU and the EP rather well, over a time span of nearly 40 years. Inspired by the 'seat–vote equation' ( Taagepera, 1973 ) for seat allocation in national legislatures, the new 'seat–population equation' calculates the number ( S _i) of EP seats or Council voting weights of member state i as follows:     , where n =(1/log  N − 1/log  S )/(1/log  N − 1/log  P ), P being the total population (as summed over all member states). We posit that this equation is applicable to predict outcomes in practice whenever voting weight or seat allocations in international organizations are allocated on the basis of the population shares of their component entities.