Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in the UAE: Gender-Differentiated Patterns of Migration Experiences

This article examines the migration experiences of women and men under conditions of temporary migration. It has been amply shown that gender is relevant to most aspects of migration. However, despite the fundamental increase in research on gender and migration, a transnational space, where gender matters but which has not bee so thoroughly explored to date, is the experiences of women and men migrants in the migration process, especially under conditions of labour migration in the Gulf States. Focusing on Bangladeshi male and female migrant workers in the UAE, this research sheds light on gender-differentiated patterns of demographic profiles, recruitment and pre-departure costs, working and living experiences, wages, savings, and remittances, health care and leisure activities and reports substantial variation in migration experiences across gender lines.     

Singapore: The Limits of a Technocratic Approach to Health Care

Being a tiny, easily managed polity run by Western-educated technocrats, Singapore is an ideal laboratory for those who believe that there is a “logical” answer to the problem of health-care funding in economically advanced societies. Certainly the ruling elite in this not-very-democratic country is convinced that Singapore is the epitome of a rational, technocratic state in which rule is based on supposedly impartial, objective criteria. The government's achievements in the delivery of health care are at the forefront of its showcase of technocratic achievements. This article uses the Singapore government's innovations in health-care funding as a case study to explore and test the limitations of trying to apply purist technocratic premises and methodologies to governance. The limitations it uncovers raise the question of whether a technocratic approach to governance can ever deliver the promised results and suggests that the attraction of “technocracy” is a chimera.     

Singapore Inc: A success story

The success of Singapore's government‐led and managed economy has allowed it to box above its weight in the international trade and financial arena for decades. However, globalisation and technology are forcing a policy shift.     

Ordinary Singapore: The Decline of Singapore Exceptionalism

For decades Singapore’s ruling elite has sought to legitimate its rule by claiming to be a talented and competent elite that has made Singapore an exception among its neighbours – an exemplar of success and progress in a sea of mediocrity. In this article it is contended that this basis of legitimation has been irreversibly damaged. In essence, it is suggested that the governing People’s Action Party has lost control of the national narrative, and its achievements are increasingly regarded as being “ordinary” by the electorate. The mystique of exceptionalism, which was the basis on which the government was widely presumed to be above the need for close scrutiny and accountability, has collapsed. This collapse has substantially levelled the political playing field, at least in terms of expectations and assumptions. The government can and probably will continue to win elections and rule through its control of the instruments of institutional power, but the genie of scepticism and accountability has been released from its bottle, and it is hard to see how it can be put back in. This fundamentally changes the condition of Singapore politics: the narrative of exceptionalism is dead and the Singapore elite finds itself struggling to cope in a new and critical political environment.     

公民社会在民主化中的作用:对新加坡的个案考察

本文试图通过新加坡案例来检验西方学者关于公民社会与民主化关系的结论.西方学者近乎一致地认为,公民社会发展会导致民主化,其核心假设是公民社会与国家的二元对立.然而,新加坡公民社会却是在国家的培育和推促下发展的,公民社会的发展实际增加了执政党政府的合法性.因此,在新加坡案例中,短期来看,公民社会发展不一定直接导致民主化,甚至还可能延缓民主政治的来临;长期来看,公民社会发展并不是民主化启动的决定性因素,但却是民主政治巩固的决定性因素.     

新加坡:权威主义,还是精英民主?

在新加坡的政党制度类型上,有些学者同意亨廷顿的观点,认为新加坡实行一党制,因此是权威主义国家.笔者不同意这种观点.本文从新加坡的政党制度是一党独大制入手进行研究,认为新加坡是有限民主国家,又由于新加坡在治国实践上奉行精英主义,因此认为它是精英民主国家.     

Migration to and from East Germany: the latest studies

A review of the literature on migration affecting East Germany is presented. The focus is on recent studies on the period during and since reunification. The authors note that, although the overall trend since 1945 has been of large-scale out-migration, levels of in-migration from West Germany have increased since 1990.     

"新加坡之谜"的新解读--《新加坡人民行动党执政形态研究》述评

新加坡以其经济发达、社会稳定、政治开明闻名于世,国内外对新加坡的关注引发了解读新加坡成功之谜的浪潮,各种角度的解读方式都有,唯独从新加坡执政党--人民行动党执政模式的角度解读尚缺,而孙景峰教授的<新加坡人民行动党执政形态研究>一书在一定程度上弥补了这一缺憾."新加坡的发展离不开新加坡人民行动党",孙景峰教授系统地阐释了人民行动党的执政模式如何运作,又是如何带领新加坡走向成功的.     

Victoria's Unique Approach to Road Safety: A History of Government Regulation*

The Australian state of Victoria has a record of proactive and determined legislative action addressing road safety. Its processes and deliberations concerning the introduction of road safety laws serve as a noteworthy case study of political rationality and public policy development. Victoria has taken a unique and pioneering approach to traffic regulation. Using the seatbelt and handheld phone laws as examples, this article examines the political dynamics involved in, and the forms of political reasoning underpinning, the road safety policy decisions taken by Victorian governments. I argue that the different approaches taken by governments are partly due to the interaction of the political imperatives of state institutions imposing regulations for the public good and the protection of individual liberties.     

Constructing Cooperation: A New Approach to Confidence Building between India and Pakistan

ABSTRACT

India and Pakistan have tempered their rivalry over the years by negotiating many bilateral confidence-building measures (CBMs), but the current patchwork of agreements cannot prevent an act of cross-border terrorism from triggering a major militarised crisis. To help mitigate this shortfall, this article advocates a new conceptual approach towards confidence building that identifies two categories of agreements – negative and positive. Negative CBMs oblige inaction; they can be defined as promises to eschew provocative behaviour, so as to prevent miscalculation and accidental war. Most prominent Indo-Pakistani CBMs fall under this category – examples include agreements on non-attack of nuclear facilities and non-violation of airspace. Positive CBMs, by contrast, oblige action; they entail tangible engagement and cooperation in the military, diplomatic, or economic domains. Examples might include counter-piracy cooperation and the expansion of people-to-people contacts. This article argues that positive CBMs invite reciprocity and are a plausible tool for promoting bilateral goodwill, reducing mistrust, and insulating Indo-Pakistani relations from shocks.     

跨国华人社会场域的动力与变迁:新加坡的个案分析

通过对过去半个世纪来新加坡华人与中国之间密切联系的实证分析,本文认为海外华人与故乡的多层互动推动了跨国华人社会场域的形成和发展.该场域有三个主要特征:第一,海外华人借助这一超越民族国家疆界的跨国网络与故乡建立起稳定的联系,推动着人员、观念、商品和资本的跨国流动和交流,国家在塑造这一跨国联系的性质方面扮演着重要角色;第二,除了推动社会和商业发展之外,该跨国场域还涵盖了动态的经济、政治和文化互动,并为创造一个集体性的华人散居者群体认同做出了积极贡献;第三,跨国华人社会的关键性制度机制是推动社会和商业网络整体发展的各类华人社团,它们包括宗乡社团和专业机构等.     

中国入世对中新经贸关系发展的影响

近年来,中国与新加坡的经贸关系迅速发展.中国加入WTO,对中新经贸关系的发展是利大于弊.中国入世后,新加坡积极调整对华经贸战略,实施"中国策略".可以预见,中国入世后的中新经贸关系将在广度和深度上不断发展.