不忘历史,共谱中日友好新篇章

去年中日双方隆重纪念了中日邦交正常化30周年,今年又迎来了《中日和平友好条约》缔结25周年。25年来,中日关系发展的经纬已充分证明,条约的缔结是正确的,完全符合两国人民的愿望和利益。在新形势下,双方应秉承和发展条约的原则和精神,推     

钓鱼岛：大海欲静风不止

新年伊始，日本政府突然在钓鱼岛问题上高调发难，把波涛万顷的东海搅得沸沸扬扬。2009年2月26日上午，日本首相麻生太郎在国会回答民主党关于钓鱼岛受到第三国侵犯时的对策时称，钓鱼岛是日本固有领土，当然是日美安保条约适用的对象，将同美国协商把钓鱼岛问题纳入日美安保条约框架内。这是有史以来日本首相首次公开发表关于日美安保条约包括钓鱼岛的言论。     

大器晚成的乌拉圭首任左翼总统巴斯克斯

在乌拉圭2004年10月31日举行的全国大选中,广泛阵线-进步联盟-新多数派领袖塔瓦雷·巴斯克斯.以首轮超过50%的得票率当选总统,同时他领导的政党联盟赢得参、众两院议长及绝对多数议席.巴斯克斯的闪亮登场引起世人的特别关注,今年3月1日他正式就任总统一职.他是乌独立179年以来的首位左翼总统.     

以互信为基础不断发展中印战略伙伴关系

互信是两国战略合作的基础近年来中印关系在政治、经济、军事、文化等各个领域都获得了显著的发展,两国关系越来越趋于成熟、务实、稳定和机制化.2005年温家宝总理访问印度期间,与印度总理宣布两国建立面向地区和平与繁荣的战略合作伙伴关系.在全球化和地区一体化迅速发展的当今世界,亚洲的两个巨人邻居之间如此定位双边关系是两国适应时代发展潮流的现实主义的理性选择,不仅符合两国的根本利益,而且也符合亚洲各国的根本利益,是对国际社会负责任的表现.     

Economics vs. values in political trust in Korea

This paper investigates the relationships between economic and/or value determinants and political trust using the 1985 Public Opinion Study for National Development in Korea conducted by the Korea Institute of Social Studies (KISS). Also examined are the relative effects of perceived personal financial situations and macro/collective economic conditions on levels of political trust to distinguish which one is more important in determining political trust in Korea. Results indicate that the trust in the political institutions and government performance depends on both personal financial security and national economic conditions. Equally important is the perception of how people think they have been treated. If Koreans perceive that they are being treated unfairly, they are likely to form, negative attitudes towards politics. We also found that, regardless of which party Koreans favor, if the government does not stabilize the economy, they do not hesitate to withdraw their support from it.     

The impact of associational life on trust in local institutions: a comparison of 57 Swiss municipalities

In this paper, we evaluate the impact of associational life on individual political trust in 57 Swiss municipalities. Our hierarchical regression models show that individual political trust is not only affected by individual associational membership but also by the exchange between associations and local political authorities in a community. In other words, if political authorities and associations are linked at the community level, citizens will place more trust in their local institutions. Furthermore, we find clear evidence for the rainmaker hypothesis: our results show that the positive effect of a vibrant connection between associational life and local politics on political trust is not solely confined to the associational members themselves, but rather indicate that the structure of the local civic culture fosters political trust among members and non-members at the same time. However, the internal democratic processes of associations have no effect on individuals’ trust in local political institutions.     

Natural resources and corruption in post-war transitions: matters of trust

Many ‘post-conflict’ countries face difficulties in reaping the full benefits of their natural resource wealth for reconstruction and development purposes. This is a major issue given these countries’ needs and the risk of seeing ‘mismanaged’ primary sectors undermine a transition to peace. Bringing together debates about the ‘inequality-mistrust-corruption’ trap and relationships between natural resources and corruption, this paper suggest that some resource sectors may be more likely to foster inequalities, and thereby increase corruption and distrust, while others are less likely to do so. Reviewing arguments and empirical evidence, I point to the relative importance of transition contexts, stakeholder incentives and resource sector characteristics, and suggest how resource-related corruption may be better understood in relation to trust-building and reconciliation processes.     

Roles,trust and skills: A typology of patronage appointments

This article contributes to the study of the politics of patronage appointments by creating a typology of patronage roles based on the nature of trust between patrons and appointees and on the skills patrons seek in appointees. Our classification brings together the dispersed literature on patronage roles and can be applied to the study of modalities of patronage across and within countries. We offer preliminary evidence from our study of the politics of patronage appointments in Latin America suggesting that variations in patronage roles can be related to variations in the institutionalization of party systems and to the nature of the links between political actors and voters. Finally, we explore whether the categories identified in our empirical study can be found in other settings. We conclude that our typology can contribute to the study of the impact of modalities of patronage on the quality of public administration and on political governability.     

The decentralisation of city government and the restoration of political trust

Abstract

‘Local politics’ has specific features that are conducive to the generation of trust, more so than ‘centralised politics’. Local politics is characterised by processes that occur on a small scale, within institutions that enjoy a certain autonomy, that are imbedded in a social community with which the citizens can identify, and that offer the possibility of more democratic participation. Where is the threshold between local and central politics? Clearly, if a city grows to the size of almost half a million inhabitants, as was the case in the port city of Antwerp, it becomes too large for local politics. It also becomes vulnerable to the lure of political distrust, as was manifested by the amazing rise of the extreme right in the 1990s. At least this was the theory that prompted the political leaders of the city to introduce a certain degree of decentralisation. To a certain extent they were right. Our evidence shows that the district councils generate more trust than the city council. Moreover they generate trust among sections of the population that were and remain distrustful of central politics. Will this capital of local political trust overflow into the trust in the higher authorities? Some of the data point in that direction but they are far from conclusive. Anyway it is too early to tell. The decentralisation reform in Antwerp is an interesting experiment but a very recent one.     

增进互信寻求共赢--中印关系回顾和展望

2005年,中印关系提升到新的水平,进入了全面发展的新阶段.领导人会晤和访问进一步增进了相互了解与信任,有力地推动了互利合作.中印宣布建立面向和平与繁荣的战略合作伙伴关系.双方交往明显增加.双边贸易持续增长,经济合作逐步拓展.解决相互关切问题取得进展,边界谈判进入新阶段.双方在国际事务中的合作加强.