Lobbying in the 21st century

This paper suggests that the nature of activism is changing to take account of the shifts in political and economic conditions. It further goes on to consider that as a result of these emerging trends we have witnessed a generational shift in how governments, businesses, interest groups and citizens will interact. It is possible to place the issues and questions that this new environment raises under a number of broad headings—Democracy and Dissent, Government and Parliament, Media, and Lobbying –each of which the paper deals with in turn. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Governing China in the early 21st century: Provincial perspective

China is a country of provinces and provincial leaders are important players in Chinese politics. It is important to know who will be governing China’s provinces in the early 21^st century and how they are going to govern them. This paper will attempt to address three critical issues related to governance of China’s provinces. First, it will describe the new provincial leadership of the early 21^st century. It will identify significant changes in terms of personal characteristics of this new leadership compared to that of earlier years. Second, it will analyze political structural changes at the provincial level. It will look at the relationship among several important provincial institutions and identify significant historical changes. Third, it will assess public policy orientations of the new provincial leadership.     

21st century American environmental ideologies: a re-evaluation

Around the turn of the century, myriad books and articles – from academics, journalists, organizational leaders and grassroots activists – explored the state of American environmentalism, outlining ideological antagonisms and tracing the contours of possible twenty-first century trajectories. In recent years, however, there have been few such analyses, and those that do exist continue to rely on the ideal types of the past. This article explores the shifting ideological contours of American environmentalism by (1) detailing how extant works categorize American environmental ideologies, and (2) employing discourse and content analysis of sixteen American environmental organizations to consider whether existing ideal-types capture the ideological variability driving contemporary environmental practice. It concludes by outlining six twenty-first century American environmental ideal-types: wilderness preservationism; liberal environmentalism; traditional environmental justice; techno-ecological optimism; socio-ecological progressivism; and socio-ecological radicalism. The article argues that the latter three ideological variants signal an ontological shift that cuts to the core of environmental practice.     

The eclipse of legislatures: Direct democracy in the 21st century

Demographic, political, and technological trends are fueling an unprecedented growth in direct democracy worldwide. If the trends continue, direct democracy threatens to eclipse legislatures in setting the policy agenda. This article reviews existing scientific knowledge about the initiative and referendum – the main institutions of direct democracy – and highlights key issues for the future.     

21世纪的社会主义与人类的政治文明

历史学家们曾经这样总结和预言：２０世纪是世界走向现代化的世纪,而２１世纪是世界普遍实现现代化的世纪。人类社会的现代化,不仅以物质文明和精神文明为其主要标志,它同样以政治文明的发展为其重要特征。在２１世纪,随着社会的深入发展和进步,人类社会的政治文明将进入一个前所未有的新阶段。这个阶段,应当是与社会主义的发展分不开的。     

全球化与21世纪初期中国外交战略的抉择

全球化进程是在西方发达国家主导下实现的，它从经济、政治、意识形态三个方面加强了美国及西方的国际地位，同时给中国的外部环境带来巨大压力；中国要想顺利融入全球化，分享全球化所带来的机遇和利益，在21世纪初期必须在顶住“西化”和“遏制”压力的同时，与西方国家保持良好的关系。     

关于21世纪前期中国第三世界战略的基本思考

冷战结束以来的第三世界的分裂和分化使中国在第三世界大体一致的总体利益受到弱化 ,中国在第三世界的利益更加显著地表现为层次性和区域性的分布 ,从地缘政治以及地缘经济的角度考量它们与中国国家利益的关切 ,基本上可以界定为三个轻重缓急各不相同的战略层次 :核心区域、重点区域以及一般重点区域。中国国家利益的这种分布和特点规定了中国针对不同区域的地区战略应在以往第三世界总体战略上进行侧重点各不相同的创新性取舍。     

21世纪初的国际形势与科学发展观的形成

科学发展观理论体系,是伴随着21世纪初国际经济全球化的迅速发展和国际政治多极化趋势的日益明显而形成和发展起来的。其中,经济全球化是科学发展观形成的经济背景,而政治多极化趋势则是科学发展观形成的政治背景,二者共同构成了科学发展观的现实基础。     

Intersection of 21st century technology with 20th century laws: a case study in proactive issues management

The intersection of a high‐tech product with 20th century laws that would have inadvertently restricted its use provides an interesting case study in issues management. The authors describe how using ‘high‐tech?high‐touch’ as a technique for public policy change, as well as employing other traditional issues management tools, enabled significant success in achieving the company's public policy goals. As a result of this proactive issues management approach, the high‐tech Segway^TM Human Transporter (HT), a low‐speed self‐balancing, electrically powered, two‐wheeled personal mobility device (Figure 1) is permitted to operate freely in a significant part of its potential market area. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

The rise of negative partisanship and the nationalization of U.S. elections in the 21st century

One of the most important developments affecting electoral competition in the United States has been the increasingly partisan behavior of the American electorate. Yet more voters than ever claim to be independents. We argue that the explanation for these seemingly contradictory trends is the rise of negative partisanship. Using data from the American National Election Studies, we show that as partisan identities have become more closely aligned with social, cultural and ideological divisions in American society, party supporters including leaning independents have developed increasingly negative feelings about the opposing party and its candidates. This has led to dramatic increases in party loyalty and straight-ticket voting, a steep decline in the advantage of incumbency and growing consistency between the results of presidential elections and the results of House, Senate and even state legislative elections. The rise of negative partisanship has had profound consequences for electoral competition, democratic representation and governance.     

二十一世纪的中俄外交

进入二十一世纪以来,中俄高层互访不断,两国间协作日益密切,经贸合作逐步扩大,确立了一种新型的国际外交模式,两国关系处于历史上的最好时期。但通过深层透视可以看出,中俄外交也存在一些值得注意的问题。展望未来,机遇和挑战并存。为此,要在中俄两国人民的共同努力下,不断深化政治互信,规范贸易秩序,完善贸易服务体系,调整贸易结构;广泛开展两国的文化交流,促进民间往来,使中俄战略协作伙伴关系健康持续地向前发展。     

21世纪马克思主义的发展逻辑

21世纪马克思主义的发展蕴含了特定的时代逻辑、实践逻辑、理论逻辑和价值逻辑。21世纪马克思主义积极应对世界百年未有之大变局,着眼于中华民族伟大复兴战略全局,在统筹国际国内两个大局中推动中华民族伟大复兴,促进人类共同进步。21世纪马克思主义直面时代发展的现实问题和实践需要,剖析困扰当今国际社会的和平赤字、发展赤字、治理赤字、文明赤字、制度霸权等问题,在探索新时代中国特色社会主义道路的实践中焕发出强大生机活力。21世纪马克思主义的主要理论形态是当代中国马克思主义,以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为标志性成果,其他世界马克思主义思潮也对其作出了有益探索。21世纪马克思主义致力于化解当下各种矛盾分歧,凝聚人类价值共识,为世界和平、发展、治理、文明和制度提供方案,构建人类命运共同体。