Can the online crowd match real expert judgments? How task complexity and coder location affect the validity of crowd-coded data

Crowd-coding is a novel technique that allows for fast, affordable and reproducible online categorisation of large numbers of statements. It combines judgements by multiple, paid, non-expert coders to avoid miscoding(s). It has been argued that crowd-coding could replace expert judgements, using the coding of political texts as an example in which both strategies produce similar results. Since crowd-coding yields the potential to extend the replication standard to data production and to ‘scale’ coding schemes based on a modest number of carefully devised test questions and answers, it is important that its possibilities and limitations are better understood. While previous results for low complexity coding tasks are encouraging, this study assesses whether and under what conditions simple and complex coding tasks can be outsourced to the crowd without sacrificing content validity in return for scalability. The simple task is to decide whether a party statement counts as positive reference to a concept – in this case: equality. The complex task is to distinguish between five concepts of equality. To account for the crowd-coder's contextual knowledge, the IP restrictions are varied. The basis for comparisons is 1,404 party statements, coded by experts and the crowd (resulting in 30,000 online judgements). Comparisons of the expert-crowd match at the level of statements and party manifestos show that the results are substantively similar even for the complex task, suggesting that complex category schemes can be scaled via crowd-coding. The match is only slightly higher when IP restrictions are used as an approximation of coder expertise.     

“腐败”的政治哲学分析与廉洁政治的路径探索

腐败的发生需要具备主观条件、客观条件和腐败机会三个要素:主观条件在于人性的不完美,客观条件在于(民众)权利向(国家)权力让渡的必要性,腐败机会使腐败由潜在可能变为现实。对于腐败的防治也需从这三个方面着手:主观因素上,构建以"责任伦理"为核心的个人伦理,并通过"职业责任伦理"将对自我与他者两种责任伦理连接起来;客观因素上,从权力伦理与权力结构两方面对公权力进行规制,通过"权力为权利服务"理念表明权力的工具性地位;机会因素上,杜绝权力介入利益关系的机会,通过"零容忍"和"严惩处"加大腐败成本,设计具有追溯机制和预防机制的良性制度,创造廉洁的社会氛围。     

对公共政策制定的政治哲学思考

公共政策制定是社会政治生活中公共决策系统的经常性活动。在现代社会,由于公共政策的巨大作用和影响,公共政策制定问题引起了广泛的关注。从政治哲学的角度审视,以公意为价值取向、以政治权力为基本依托,以政治秩序为最终归宿,才能建立起人民期待的合理、公正、有效的公共政策,从而进一步推进决策的科学化、民主化。     

学科视野中的历史政治学:以历史社会学、政治史、比较政治学为参照

历史政治学是中国学者提出的研究政治学之全新范式,但当然不是从零开始,而有众多可资利用之知识资源,本文探讨其与历史政治学之关系。历史政治学与历史社会学均致力于带回历史、带回国家,并共享众多方法;但后者有西方中心论偏见,奉行价值无涉原则,止于理解或解释;历史政治学则破除西方中心论,公正对待中国等非西方国家、文明丰富的政治实践,且有明确价值追求,致力于从历史中探究善治之道。历史政治学呼吁历史学再度重视政治史,并使之有政治学想象力。历史政治学可为比较政治学带入大历史视野,以矫正其以西式政治制度为标准的偏失。     

近20年英美哲学的最新进展(下)

2、实在论.在当代美国哲学家看来,实在论、自然主义和实用主义在哲学基本倾向上是一致的,它们之间的关系可以解释为,是一种以实用主义为主导精神,以实在论为基本态度,以自然主义为思想方法的美国特有的生活方式.在当代美国哲学中,实在论和实用主义构成了一幅美国哲学的未来图景.当今美国哲学中的一种重要动向,就是实用主义实在论的兴起.2000年10月在美国纽约布法罗州立大学举行的"美国实用自然主义传统中的实在论的未来"国际研讨会,就充分体现了这样一种倾向.例如,默菲(Mur-ray G. Murphey)指出,实用主义不是要揭示世界的真实情况,而是要说明人类对环境做出有限反应的能力,例如人类根据自己的兴趣或态度对某种所与物(the giyen)作出选择.这里并不涉及真实世界的独立存在问题,而仅仅涉及到外在事物对人类感官产生的感觉刺激,也就是知觉(perception)过程.罗森塔尔(Sandra B. Rosenthal)明确地把实用主义与实在论联系起来.     

中国马克思学:哲学抑或科学

创建中国马克思学是推进当代中国马克思主义哲学研究的主要路径,体现着当代中国马克思主义哲学研究向学术化方向发展的一种趋势。在学科定位上,中国马克思学应当是一门实验科学,具有可证伪性。中国马克思学研究者应以科学理性的态度对待国际马克思文献学的研究成果。     

Towards the Vernacular,Away from Politics? Political History after the ‘New Political History’

This article considers how modern British political history has changed since the ‘new political history’ of the 1990s. It focusses on the ‘vernacular’ histories which have emerged in the last decade or so. The vernacular ‘turn’ is frequently framed by its proponents in opposition to the new political history, with its focus on the rhetoric of politicians and subsequent tendency to reproduce the perspectives of political elites. This article, however, identifies continuities between these approaches, noting their shared interest in advancing a more complex understanding of the relationship between politics and people in the past. It argues that the real challenge posed by the vernacular lies in the necessary reckoning with the ‘apartness’ of politics from the perspective of ordinary people. Yet here too, this piece suggests, the vernacular turn can be seen as the latest stage in a continual rethinking of the relationship between political, social and cultural history.     

Political Science Perspectives on Human Rights

This special issue of Human Rights Review is devoted to an exploration of the current human rights research agendas within the political science discipline. Research on human rights is truly an interdisciplinary quest in which various epistemologies can contribute to each other and form a larger dialogue concerning rights and wrongs. This special issue is devoted to an expansive understanding of the state of research on human rights in the political science discipline. One common theme throughout these contributions is the need for a more nuanced conceptualization of human rights, tools to promote these rights and as social scientists, methodologies employed to study these rights. A second theme is the policy relevance that can be derived from our empirical analysis. This volume demonstrates that the integration of theoretically and normatively rich concepts, empirical social science, and policy relevance do not have to be mutually exclusive when studying human rights.     

加强纪律建设 涵养政治生态

旗帜鲜明讲政治是马克思主义执政党的根本要求,营造风清气正的政治生态是加强党的政治建设的基础性、经常性工作。纪检监察机关要把讲政治的要求贯彻并体现于推进纪律建设的全过程,以辩证思维、系统思维、法治思维、底线思维和创新思维分析问题,多角度、立体化推进优良政治生态的净化养成。     

"Critchley is Žižek": In Defence of Critical Political Philosophy

Abstract

In an ironically ?i?ekian manner, this paper argues that Simon Critchley and Slavoj ?i?ek's apparent political disagreement (ludic reformist versus strident revolutionary) conceal a common set of preconditions and presuppositions. These presuppositions can be summed by the slogan "the for getting of political philosophy", which more specifically means the forgetting of the difference between philosophy and political life, and the reflective need to find mediations between the two. Critchley's turn to humour honours the notion that politics is about the realm of appearances, while ?i?ek's frank avowal of the "diabolical evil" of the subject of the death drive makes patently clear the dangers posed by a "politics of Truth".     

The Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Performance in the Financial Industry in Nigeria

The business environment in which the financial industry operates is full of uncertainty and limitations. The inability of some firms in this sector to produce capable management that can guide the interests of shareholders in the light of ethics and values has generated frequent cases of business downturn. This has compelled the industry to adopt the strategy of corporate governance which hinges on the intellectual honesty of directors and management to promote transparency, equity, and accountability, and provide leadership that will guide the industry in the right direction. The major objective of this paper is to ascertain whether corporate governance is a strategy for corporate performance. The study made use of both primary and secondary sources of data. The survey research method and the data analysis techniques comprised of simple percentages and chi-square derived from Kendal coefficient. It discovered that corporate governance is a strategy for corporate performance and the financial sector has failed to improve their performance using this strategy. It was recommended that the regulatory agencies should constantly review the acts that ensure good corporate governance and embark on constant monitoring in order to sanction any defaulting bank.     

Exploring the actions of Government Affairs Managers during economic and financial crises—an exploratory study in the European Union

This paper is a response to the paucity of theoretical and empirical research into the political actions undertaken by organisations to influence policymakers' responses to economic and financial crises. By using original, primary data gathered from semi‐structured interviews conducted with Brussels‐based Government Affairs Managers of multi‐national enterprises, it reports the results of inductive, exploratory research into corporate political activity during the 2007–2011 financial crisis. Results suggest that not all firms are in favour of increased regulatory intervention during times of economic upheaval. They also imply that, during recessions, firms are more likely to seek long‐term as opposed to short‐term relationships with policymakers, they also have a greater propensity to engage in collective political action than individual political action and they use information strategies more frequently than constituency‐building and financial‐incentive strategies. These results are subsequently used as the basis for a conceptual framework that draws on numerous theoretical traditions to capture the antecedents of firms' political behaviours during economic crises. Given the absence of theoretical and empirical work that actively engages with this issue, the research makes important contributions to the existing literature on corporate political activity. It also has practical implications for corporate political strategists and policymakers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

当前我国政治稳定问题分析

政治稳定是任何一个国家健康发展的必要前提之一。分析目前影响我国政治稳定的种种因素,同时对照我国现有的维持稳定的各种主要资源可知,当前我国政治局势是能够保持总体性稳定的,但也存在一定影响长期稳定的不利因素,对此必须采取针对性策略加以消除。     

青年马克思走向政治批判的“卢格因素”研究

青年黑格尔派构成了马克思早期理论发展的重要背景,然而在传统的哲学解读视域下,学界仅仅关注马克思与费尔巴哈、鲍威尔等人的关系,而对马克思与卢格的学术关联关注不多,这就使一些重要的问题被忽略。比如,在宗教批判占主导地位的氛围下,马克思究竟是如何走向政治批判的。卢格是青年黑格尔派政治批判哲学的创始人,引导了青年黑格尔派由宗教批判转向政治批判。梳理马克思与卢格的理论关系,有助于我们回答青年马克思理论研究中被忽略的问题,比较清晰地勾勒青年马克思思想发展的历程,为青年马克思思想研究提供可信的历史线索。     

论数学方法在经济学中的运用

本文主要讨论了涉及数学方法在经济学中运用的两个问题。论文认为:首先,经济学的性质和经济研究所设定的前提决定了数学方法的适用范围,而经济理论前提假设的正确性决定了数学模型的正确性。其次,在马克思主义的经济学研究中采用适当的数学分析工具不仅可以清晰地阐明理论的核心含义,而且有助于更清晰地找到马克思主义与其他理论的本质差异在什么地方。为了正确地把握经济研究对象的性质和发展趋势,必须把数理研究方法和历史的方法有机地结合起来。