欧盟文化政策与文化治理

欧洲文化政策有两个层面:一是民族国家的文化政策,二是泛欧洲的文化政策。在欧洲层面,主导文化政策的政治实体主要是欧洲联盟和欧洲理事会。联合国教科文组织和世界贸易组织作为国际机构也对欧洲文化政策发挥着重要影响。本文的研究对象是欧盟文化政策,着重考察欧盟作为欧洲范围的行动者,如何通过其显形和隐形的文化政策,塑造新的文化治理体系、推进欧洲公民社会各种力量的新型合作关系。     

英国欧洲政策的特殊性:传统、理念与现实利益

在欧洲一体化的历史上,英国自始至终都处于一种比较"特殊"的地位。这种特殊性源于多个方面,特别是由于历史发展的轨迹不同、特定的政治观念与经济理念,再加上现实利益方面的诉求,使得英国形成了不同于法德等国家的欧洲一体化理念,也使其欧洲政策具有了其他欧洲国家不具备的"特殊性"。在当前欧洲债务危机的背景下,这种"特殊性"愈发突出。也正是这样的特殊性,使英国政府的欧洲政策陷于一种进退两难的境地。     

论地区与国家的相互塑造

本文以地区而不是传统上占主导地位的国际体系作为理解和解释国际政治与国家行为的概念基础,构建起一个地区与国家相互塑造的分析框架。透过这个框架,可以解释:地区对国家的地位与权力、认同与观念、政策与行为的塑造;与此同时,国家的相对权力及其变化、观念和政策及其转变还对地区体系和制度秩序的形成产生一定影响。从动态的角度来看,地区与融入其中的国家处于相互塑造的过程中。彼此从对方那里吸取不同的元素,并以不同的方式相互进行重塑和改造。地区与国家之间存在基于过程选择的互动关系,它为理解改革开放以来中国外交政策的调整以及与亚太周边地区变化中的新关系提供了理论视角。     

解析当代英国执政党竞选中的福利主张——政党竞争与福利政策

政党竞选对国家政策的影响力是分析评价西方国家政治制度和政党作用的一个指标。本文选取英国执政党竞选时的福利主张作为分析对象,通过内容分类、对比分析执政党主张的差异和政治倾向性的变化,描述英国历次政党竞选中福利主张的发展变化。研究结果显示,英国两个执政党在竞选时提出的福利主张涉及福利行政管理和服务的主张多于福利制度和待遇水平,政党之间具有一致性的主张多于对立或有差异性的主张,在政府主导和市场化倾向方面的程度有所不同,但保持了共同的政策发展趋势。政党竞选和政党轮替都未对现行政策产生颠覆性影响,而是形成了相互继承和局部改进的格局。     

美国非洲政策的军事化趋势

21世纪以来,美国外交政策呈现明显的军事化趋势,其非洲政策突出地反映了这种趋势。美国非洲政策的军事化既出于美国反恐战争的需要及非洲战略地位提升,也是美国国家力量变化和国内政治发展变化的结果。军事化趋势是小布什和奥巴马政府对非政策的共同主线,突出地反映在两届美国政府都持续大幅增加在非洲的军事存在,日益依赖于军事力量去实现美国在非洲的战略目标,从而导致军队在美国对非外交中扮演着愈益重要的角色。美国非洲政策军事化的结果是令非洲陷入更多的动荡、战乱和恐怖之中,并刺激了其他一些国家非洲政策的军事化,增加了非洲安全的不确定性。     

欧盟东南亚政策论析

东南亚具有独特的地理位置和活跃的区域经济,在传统上就是欧盟的外交战略关切之一。世界政治经济重心的东移再次提升了东南亚的战略重要性。本文基于安全战略、市场和社会三个层次,分析欧盟东南亚政策的历史沿革、特点、动因和潜在变化。在安全战略层面,欧盟继续在东南亚重要战略性力量之间寻求战略平衡;在经济层面,欧盟积极谋求分享亚洲经济增长红利,继续推进东盟成员国自贸区谈判;在社会层面,欧盟加大诸多项目在东南亚地区的推广力度。总体来说,欧盟对东南亚国家坚持经济合作高于政治安全、社会合作的方针。在欧盟的东南亚政策中,政治、安全、经济与社会层面的影响因素相互交织、彼此互动。     

解析英国劳动力市场改革

本文系统分析了1980年代以来的英国劳动力市场改革进程,指出撒切尔改革的核心内容是放弃福利国家的充分就业目标,转而通过劳动力市场改革"促进就业",这是英国战后福利国家制度的重大变化。布莱尔工党政府执政期间,通过"第三条道路"的改革对上述变化进行了一定程度的纠偏,但并未改变英国劳动力市场改革的方向。此后,英国保守党和自由民主党联合政府在金融危机背景下对工党的劳动力市场改革进行了某些制度调整,主要目的是提高效率,而非改变方向。文章认为,英国劳动力市场改革的动因是经济结构、社会结构和社会观念的变化,并非完全是政治推动的结果,改革之所以能够持续进行,根源在于顺应了这些结构性变化的要求。     

国家行为责任观念的差异——基于英美、德国和中国新冠疫情初期应对政策的比较与思考

国家责任观念体现了一个国家或社会内部的基本价值观念,而国家的行为责任提供了观察一国基本价值观念的重要视角。新冠疫情期间,英美、德国和中国采取了不同的防控措施,这些差异反映了不同国家内部对国家行为责任的不同认知。对其观念形成的历史进行简单梳理可以发现,一个国家主流价值观念的形成是由其资源禀赋、文化历史和现实国情决定的,具有内在的规律性。构筑未来的全球治理体系,需要跨文化的视角,在理解不同文化形态的基础上,努力实现不同文化和文明的和平共处与共同发展。     

苏联关于社会政策问题的一些理论

从七十年代中期以来,苏联学术界加强了对本国发达社会主义条件下社会政策的研究。在报刊杂志上,有关社会政策的文章与日俱增。《政治自修》杂志从一九八二年第八期起辟出“苏共社会政策“专栏,系统地介绍宣传讲解提纲。在苏共的一些代表会上,社会政策也作为一个重要内容提到议事日程上。政策,作为一种社会现象,在阶级社会中渗透到社会生活的各个领域。统治阶级的根本利益鲜明地体现在自己实施的政策中。列宁指出,“政策是指群众参加国家事务,指国家的方针,指确定国家活动的形式、任务和内容。”     

德国能源问题及能源政策探析

德国目前面临的能源问题主要有能源过分依赖进口、传统煤炭发电能力有待更新、可再生能源利用和核能替代问题。20世纪70年代后，德国开始形成国家能源政策体系和独具特色的“能源峰会”协商机制，为德国能源治理提供了重要的社会和政治基础。同时，德国注重用法律手段确认、规范、指引能源政策和能源产业的发展，建立了较为完善的能源法律体系，为能源政策的实施提供了良好的保障。     

From interest groups to parties: The change in the career patterns of the legislative elite in German social policy

Analysing the careers of members of the Bundestag Standing Committee for Labour and Social Affairs, the paper demonstrates that the ties between social politicians and social policy organisations such as trade unions, faith-based social policy organisations, independent charity organisations, works councils and social insurance institutions have become blurred. Since the 1990s social politicians have become more focused on political careers in the party and in parliament than on social policy. The new social politicians are party politicians who have distanced themselves from the interest groups. The qualitative change in parliamentary personnel is explained by changes in electoral politics, parties and interest groups. The author argues that the weakening linkages confirm contemporary research results on change in German neo-corporatism.     

The Renewal of Social Democracy? The Rann Labor Government (2002–11)

Labour governments around the world are struggling to renew labour and social democratic values in the modern era. The South Australian Labor government, led by Mike Rann (2002–11), presents a striking case of a labour government that pursued a renewal of social democracy. By offering a critical examination of the ideological contours of the Rann Government, this paper contributes to wider debates about the flux of social democracy. In Australia, debates about Labor's identity tend to focus on the federal rather than state level, which this article seeks, in part, to redress. The Rann government's economic and social inclusion policies are examined and compared with its South Australian historical forebears, and the Rann government is located within the various labour “traditions”.     

Capitalist models and social democracy: the case of New Labour

Some of the more critical readings of the adequacy and effectiveness of New Labour in power have been developed by scholars willing to link arguments about the trajectory of Labour politics to wider arguments about the character of the contemporary global economy and the space within it for the construction and development of distinctive capitalist models. Mark Wickham-Jones and Colin Hay in particular have made that linkage in a series of important writings on the contemporary Labour party. Their arguments are here subjected to critical review, and set against a third position on New Labour and global capitalism: one informed by the writings of Ralph Miliband on British Labour and by the arguments of Leo Panitch and Greg Albo on the limits of the 'progressive competitiveness' strategies associated with 'Third Way' social democratic governments.     

'It's Labour, But Not as we Know it.' Media Lesson-drawing and the Disciplining of Social Democracy: A Case Study

A qualitative content analysis of New Zealand newspapers from 1997 to 2002 shows how the overwhelmingly conservative print media in that country used a highly partial version of Tony Blair's New Labour to try to help set parameters for its New Zealand counterpart and point it in what it saw as the right direction. Globalisation rests on the flow of ideas as well as the flow of trade: it has an important ideational component that the media—internationally owned though often parochially focused—helps construct by drawing lessons from abroad. The thrust of the coverage analysed was to transnationalise a business-friendly common sense concerning the proper—indeed the inevitable—response of a modern social democratic party to a globalised political economy. Whether this actually affected the behaviour of the New Zealand variant of social democracy, however, is a moot point. Finally, in keeping with Lijphart's seminal discussion of the purpose of case studies, this one generates the following hypothesis: that the print media in one country will interpret the domestic politics of other countries (other than those which are geographically closest or economically crucial) in such a way as to try to influence the outcome of political and policy debates at home.     

Labour and Epistemic Communities: The Case of 'Managed Migration' in the UK

How do new ideas flow through networks to reframe policy questions, and what role is played by the growing world of think tanks and policy experts? This article takes the remarkable shift in UK labour migration policy since 2000 and demonstrates how policy was redesigned by networks of actors working between and within the worlds of think tanks and government, including the Prime Minister's Policy and Innovation Unit (PIU), the Treasury, the Home Office and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The article shows how different kinds of ideas and knowledge flowed through different actors and networks to influence the reframing of policy, using the epistemic communities hypothesis (ECH) as a theoretical framework for the analysis.     

Chronicle of a Crisis Foretold: The Politics of Irregular Migration, Human Trafficking and People Smuggling in the UK

This article argues that a distinct repertoire of social and political contention associated with migration and the presence of immigrants in the UK plays a large part in structuring responses to ostensibly 'new' migration challenges such as people smuggling and human trafficking. This repertoire includes the elision and confusion of migration categories (particularly in this instance between irregular migration and asylum); the impact of state policies on the creation of 'unwanted' migration flows; fears of floods and invasions by 'unwanted' migrants; concerns that the state is losing control of migration; the depiction of migration and migrants as causes of increased support for the extreme right; the existence of labour market pull factors that provide economic spaces for both regular and irregular migrants; the symbolic power but limited effect of an international human rights regime and discourse; and problems of policy implementation. The contemporary twist is provided by the links made between irregular migration and the 'war on terror' and the ways in which migration has become a component of bilateral relations between the UK and other states, particularly those structured by EU competencies.     

Prosperity and Fairness? Can New Labour Bring Fairness to the 21st Century by Following the Dictates of Endogenous Growth?

By the late 1980s changes in the British and global political, social and economic situation necessitated a major rethink of the Labour party's policy approach. This rethink began with the 1987 Policy Reviews and continues to develop under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. In contrast to many critics of New Labour's economic and social reforms this article argues that the party is not acting on simple pragmatic grounds, nor are they simply a 'kinder' neo-liberal party. Rather, it is argued that there is a clear coherence to New Labour's governing approach and that this is itself guided by the leadership's understanding of endogenous growth theory. The long-term goal is that by adopting an endogenous growth strategy the government will be able to re-institute an activist policy regime capable of promoting the party's traditional values of equality, justice and fairness within a socioeconomic policy designed to ensure long-term growth and prosperity.     

Bringing Policy Communities Back In: The Case of Fire Service Cover

It is argued that the concept of a policy community has an enduring value in the analysis of public policy, especially if an emphasis is placed on the way in which ideas are excluded from debates. Historical analysis based on the National Archives using a political science conceptual framework can offer fresh perspectives. The concept is developed through a specification of the conditions that encourage policy community formation and survival. Policy inertia led to a policy that produced a higher rate of deaths from fire in the UK than in other developed countries, especially among the socially excluded. The policy community concept can be of value in the policy analysis tool-kit, especially if policy frames that have become embedded to the exclusion of alternatives are identified.     

The Zenith of Realism in New Zealand's Foreign Policy

Modern New Zealand foreign policy is a blend of the Liberal Internationalist and Realist approaches to international relations, with the Liberal Internationalist strand arguably predominant. Before 1935, however, New Zealand's foreign policy can be characterised as purely Realist. The governments of the Reform and United parties between 1912 and 1935 gave a high priority to national security, were sceptical of international institutions and had no interest in issues of self-determination, democracy and human rights. These attitudes were challenged by the Labour party Opposition, which possessed a Liberal Internationalist outlook on international affairs, but Liberal Internationalism did not begin to influence New Zealand's foreign policy until Labour came to power in 1935.     

Von einem liberalen zu einem post‐liberalen Wohlfahrtsstaat: der Wandel der gewerkschaftlichen Sozialpolitik in der Schweiz

The article reconstructs the development of the Swiss welfare state against the background of the transformation of trade unions' social policy activities. It detects a sequence of trade unions' activities in social policy which runs uniformly to the development of the welfare state. While in the liberal phase of the Swiss welfare state trade unions were sceptical of national social policy and preferred mutual insurance and collective bargaining, in its post‐liberal phase they have become proponents of national social policy legislation.