Hungary: Unpicking the Permissive Consensus1

Hungary's was the only referendum on EU membership held in Western or East-Central Europe by the time of the Union's 2004 enlargement in which less than half the electorate participated. The ‘yes’ result was high, reflecting broad pro-accession sentiment but also low participation, a relationship linked to the status of EU membership in the post-communist context. This analysis focuses on explaining the low referendum turnout. It finds that most non-participation was due to longstanding features of Hungarian electoral behaviour and public attitudes to the EU which feature in Szczerbiak and Taggart's model, namely low levels of participation in elections in general and referendums in particular, low contestation of EU membership at elite and mass levels, and a low intensity of EU-related preferences. It also suggests that the kind of anti-government partisanship which in non-post-communist settings might be translated into ‘no’ positions, in the Hungarian case primarily contributed further to abstention.     

当今社会性别不平等的原因分析

男女平等是我国的基本国策,新中国成立至今已经65年,我国在教育、婚恋、职业等诸方面都坚定不移地贯彻男女平等的思想,但男女在实际生活中还是不平等的,在职场、婚恋中女性处于明显的弱势,尤其是在两性关系中不平等现象更为普遍。归根结底,两性关系不和谐的背后是男女不平等的问题,因为只有真正的平等才能真正和谐。探究性别不平等的原因,发现观念是造成两性不平等的根本原因。受传统文化、家庭氛围、周围环境和自己接触信息等的影响,女性形成了自己的观念:弱势、依赖、不独立等,这些观念最终导致性别不再平等。     

Fiscal Decentralization Policies in the EU: A Comparative Analysis through a Club Convergence Analysis

Abstract

We study the degree of convergence or divergence in fiscal decentralization in the European Union over the period 1995–2015 using a club convergence approach. First, we analyze non-central expenditure and revenue as percentages of GDP, of total expenditure and of total revenue. The results for the EU-15 countries indicate some clustering, with three clubs formed when using GDP and four to five when using total revenue or expenditure. Second, we study the gap between expenditure and revenue as a proxy of fiscal responsibility. This results in three and two clubs respectively, with Denmark as the divergent country with the highest gap. Finally, we analyze potential unions of clubs and transitions. We also interpret our results taking into account variables found in the literature as determinants of fiscal decentralization. These results show how European countries are quite heterogeneous in terms of fiscal federalism and decentralization, with greater convergence in fiscal responsibility than in the other magnitudes.     

The Political Economy of Gender: Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Gender Division of Labor and the Gender Voting Gap

Mainstream political economy has tended to treat the family as a unit when examining the distributional consequences of labor market institutions and of public policy. In a world with high divorce rates, we argue that this simplification is more likely to obscure than to instruct. We find that labor market opportunities for women, which vary systematically with the position of countries in the international division of labor and with the structure of the welfare state, affect women's bargaining power within the family and as a result, can explain much of the cross country variation in the gender division of labor as well as the gender gap in political preferences.     

Masculine Markets and Feminine Care: A Gender Analysis of the National Performance Review

This essay aims to uncover how and in what ways gender figures in the three National Performance Review reports. The analysis uncovers the different ways that gender operates in the reports and, in doing so, highlights why policy language matters. At the analytic level of the word, the reports are gender inclusive. At the analytic level of the sentence, the figurative language, metaphors, and bridging assumptions privilege experiences and actions that are socially constructed as male and rely on traditional gender stereotypes about work, family, and government service use. At the analytic level of discourse, masculine market and feminine care discourses are identified and explicated. That care discourse emerged amid a movement to make government more businesslike and market oriented suggests that perhaps care values and practices deserve greater intellectual scrutiny.     

Measuring Political Competence: An Analysis with Reference to the Gender Gap*

Political alienation has been an important concept in theories of participation and democratic policies. Subjective political competence (‘internal political efficacy’) is considered to be a main element within the broader concept of political alienation, and an important determinant of political participation. The main purpose of this article is to test statistically the assumption of similarity in model structure for men and women, i. e. the relation between political competence and voting turnout. Our findings, generated on the basis of a common survey questionnaire item, show that subjective competence has different significance for men and women. For men, it has an expected substantive meaning. For women, it seems to be irrelevant with respect to expected sources and consequences. Given this apparent incomparability in measurement, we conclude that it is inappropriate to use identical models for men and women. It is also argued that political competence should be conceived of as containing a cognitive element, ‘objective political competence’. Empirical analysis shows that this concept is gender neutral with respect to political involvement.     

工业化过程中农业政策演变规律探析

工业化过程中,农业政策的演变具有一定的规律性。深刻认识这一规律,对于正确制定我国工业化中后期的农业政策,促进农业及整个国民经济的健康发展,具有非常重大的现实意义。     

Gender Analysis and Community Consultation: The Role of Women's Policy Units

Community consultation has become a widely accepted part of policy development in Australia. In this article, we consider how, in an Australian context, consultation can be incorporated within gender analysis processes. Gender analysis refers to systematic procedures to detect and correct gender bias in the full range of government programs, projects and policies. We draw upon insights from a qualitative case study to argue that policy workers located within women's policy units could play a key role in designing and coordinating meaningful and inclusive consultation. We conclude that well‐resourced women's policy offices within Australian governments are essential to ensuring effective, equitable consultation exercises are included within gender analysis processes.     

公共科技政策分析的理论进路：评述与比较

公共科技政策分析是一个颇具多样性的领域。新古典经济学、演化经济学、科学技术与社会研究、政策科学4种理论进路各有特点。新古典经济学的政策分析非常清晰,可提供直接的政策工具;演化经济学给予科技发展一种系统的理解,可得到科技发展的结构性制度安排;STS以宽阔的视野,在政策导向、科技行为的规范、政策对科技的建构等方面具有丰富的思想和措施含义;政策科学的分析关注政策系统,为改进政策过程提供认识基础。基于对4种理论进路共性与差异的比较,提出了一个公共科技政策分析的整合的概念框架。     

Psycho-social Analysis of Black Teenage Pregnancies: Implications for Public and Cultural Policies

This paper identifies three challenges to understanding and remedying problems in black teenage pregnancy: cultural, developmental, and normative.     

Competing Gender Paradigms: Gender Difference, Fetal Rights and the Case of Johnson Controls

Political debates over the concept of “fetal rights” pose in sharp relief questions regarding the meaning of biological gender difference for gender equality. Can the state's obligation to “protect” fetal health be used to modify or control women's behavior? If so, what does this mean for women's status as full and equal citizens in a democratic society? This article addresses these questions through an analysis of the political, legal, scientific and moral debates over “fetal protection policies” in hazardous workplaces.     

区域经济政策及其导向效应分析

在区域经济政策解析的基础上,对区域经济政策目标选择、政策手段选择中的分权与集权及公共品与非 公共品投资的导向效应进行分析。认为区域经济政策手段选择的一个重要评价标准应是微观主体的平均产出水平与效 应,区域经济政策对区域公共品投资与非公共品投资具有导向效应。     

对农村劳动力转移的实证分析

由于农村劳动力的相对过剩、地区间经济发展不平衡和城市化进程的加快,农村劳动力的转移仍然存在一个扩张期。政府要加强组织与协调,消除不公平待遇,不断提高劳动者素质,提供良好的政策平台,促进农村劳动力有序流动。     

影响地方政府有效执行中央政策的因素分析

地方政府执行中央政策影响因素主要包括 :政策执行体制因素、中央政策因素、地方政府因素与中央政策对象因素。提出这些因素并进行系统分析 ,是实现确保地方政府有效执行中央政策的前提。     

The Impact of Subnational Fiscal Policies on Economic Growth: A Dynamic Analysis Approach

Much previous research has analyzed the effect of state and local taxes and expenditures on economic growth, but usually in a static manner. In this paper, we use panel vector autoregression (PVAR) to examine the effects of taxes and expenditures on state income growth. This methodology allows us to treat all variables in the model as endogenously determined. Our approach allows us to address the endogeneity problem inherent in fiscal policy research as well as to obtain results for both the short term and intermediate term (up to six years). Consistent with prevailing wisdom, taxes are shown to have a negative effect on economic growth, but the effect only is present in the short run. Public capital spending has a positive effect on growth in both the short and intermediate terms. Operational expenditures exhibit positive effects on growth over the entire analysis period.     

取消城乡户籍人口划分的改革效应分析

户籍制度改革的核心在于破除城乡二元分割的户籍管理体制,取消农业和非农业城乡户口划分,回归到城乡统一的居民户籍身份登记功能,逐渐剥离依附在户籍身份上的不平等待遇,促进城乡一体化发展。《关于进一步推进户籍制度改革的意见》明确提出要取消城乡户籍人口的身份划分,建立统一的居民户籍制度,这将直接产生改革红利效应,有利于开启户籍制度实质改革、推动人的城镇化进程、促进城乡社保一体化改革,并为其他领域改革提供关联配套措施,产生改革协力并从整体上推动改革进程。     

日本区域政策解析及其对中国开发西部的启示

战后日本在一片废墟的基础上,用令人震惊的极短时间一跃成为世界经济大国,而且国内各地区居民收入基本均衡。在这个过程中,区域政策的制定和实施起了不可忽视的作用。目前,我国面临着加快开发西部地区的历史任务,我们可以从日本的区域政策中得到一些有益的启示。　　一、开发战略国家的区域开发政策没有一个固定的模式可循,只有根据本国的国情,根据本国经济发展的不同阶段和现实经济发展的实际能力和要求,并综合考虑影响本国经济发展的外界环境等诸多因素,制定出相应的计划、措施和方针,才能取得预期的效果。日本的目标区域发展战略的沿…     

Cosmopolitan Democracy and the EU: The Case of Gender

Cosmopolitan democracy is one of the most debated models of transnational democracy. As a result of his prominence in this field, David Held has attracted much of the criticism and approval of this position. The critique and comment aimed at cosmopolitanism in general, and Held's work in particular, has provoked cosmopolitan advocates to respond, restate and develop their arguments. However, despite its considerable merit, this debate remains largely theoretical, and little has been done in terms of studying the realisation of cosmopolitanism in real-world settings. This article contributes towards the debate concerning the possibility of its actual application by mapping the principles of cosmopolitan democracy in relation to the EU polity and the issue of gender equality. It argues that the EU articulates certain cosmopolitan-comparable principles, and by studying areas where they are clearly exhibited, such as the issue of gender, that this helps us to critically evaluate their practicability and enables a response to criticisms levelled at cosmopolitan democracy. This article addresses two specific criticisms. Firstly, in view of the justiciable qualities of EU law, and its ability to give rise to formal individual rights, it is argued that claims regarding the inherently fictitious nature of cosmopolitan rights are unfounded. Secondly, while acknowledging that civic engagement takes a principally legal mode in relation to the issue of gender, this article rejects the claim that cosmopolitan democracy neglects the political aspects of citizenship. However, cosmopolitan scholars must extend their understanding of the relation between rights and the wider aspects of citizenship engagement, if they hope to realise the vision of an active citizenry that remains central to the cosmopolitan project.     

The Monitoring Capacity of Civil Society Networks: A Social Network Analysis in the Case of Gender Equality Policy

The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as a watchdog in the implementation process is widely acknowledged. However, little is known about what determines their capacity to monitor EU policy implementation and how it differs across member states. This article accounts for social capital as well as human and financial capital to determine the monitoring capacity of CSOs. To capture sources of social capital, a network analysis is applied in a comparative case article on the monitoring networks of national platforms of the European Women’s Lobby across eight EU member states. The analysis reveals that CSOs in western member states are rich in human, financial and social capital, while CSOs in CEE member states compensate for this lack of resources by linking up with the Commission.