“In the shadows of hierarchy”: Intergovernmental governance in Canada and the European Union

The articles in this issue suggest that intergovernmental governance takes a different form in Canada and the EU, raising questions about the transference of practices and institutions from one to the other. In both systems, non‐hierarchical modes of governance provide coordination in social policy. Hierarchy also plays a role, though not in a manner that one might expect. In the EU, hierarchy is tempered by members' direct participation in policy formulation. In Canada, hierarchy is important, but within rather than between governments, resulting in executive dominance of the intergovernmental process at the expense of devolving power to civil society and sub‐provincial governments.     

Kyle A. Jaros,China’s Urban Champions: the Politics of Spatial Development

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

Urban planning and mental health

Abstract

Both the product and the process of city planning have been shown to have an influence on mental health. This paper presents a model of the process through which community design characteristics influence mental health. The model emphasizes the importance of local social interaction and physical stimulation, as well as adjustment mechanisms used to dampen stress resulting from undesirable levels of interaction and stimulation. The research on the relationship between four community design characteristics and social interaction, stimulation and mental health is then reviewed. An argument for the importance of citizen participation is also presented, stressing the influence of participation on both sense of control and the development of social support. Commonly employed participation techniques, however, differ in their ability to affect support and control. Neighborhood council programs are identified as having the greatest potential for influencing sense of control and social support. Finally the obstacles to improving community design and specific recommendations for the prevention of environmentally induced mental health problems are presented.     

从红色威胁到激进民众主义——拉丁美洲对美国的非安全因素

*2004年11月,美国总统乔治.W.布什在阿根廷参加第4届美洲国家首脑会议期间,受到了来自民众的强烈抗议。这是自1958年时任美国副总统的理查德.M.尼克松在委内瑞拉被愤怒的民众投掷石块以来,美国政府高级官员在拉丁美洲受到的最差的待遇了。在委内瑞拉总统乌戈.查韦斯和玻利维亚总统候选人埃沃.莫拉莱斯的鼓舞和煽动下,数万名民众举行集会,谴责美帝国主义和已遭搁浅的美洲自由贸易区计划。布什会受到强烈抗议,事先并非毫无征兆。在他出访前夕进行的民意调查显示,53%的南美洲人和87%的拉美“意见领袖”(Opinion Leaders)对美国总统表示反感,…     

Kazin on Dreiser: What it Means to be a Literary Critic

Throughout his career as a literary critic, Alfred Kazin wrote often and with sympathy and insight about Theodore Dreiser, one of the most powerful, panoramic, and compassionate novelists in American literary history. Kazin was an intense reader and writer, committed in his books, essays, and reviews to connecting with and describing the personality of each author he examined. His interpretive work on Dreiser illuminates what it means to be a literary critic and teacher. When we read Kazin in the midst of twenty-first century theory, ideology, and professionalism, we realize all the more clearly the goal in his literary criticism that he aimed for, achieved, and represented—and that now is missing from literary education and experience.     

Les réformes des finances publiques en France : évolutions et enjeux

Abstract: France, like many other countries, has undertaken an in‐depth reform of its public finances over the past few years. The originality of the French system lies in the fact that the reforms focused strongly on the three sub‐systems of public finance (i.e., government finance, local finance and social finance). The reforms are designed, on the one hand, to streamline the French public financial system and to provide a certain consistency for addressing its inherent complexity and, on the other, to clarify the roles of the various public stakeholders in order to allow for better management of the country's public finances.     

Mortgaging Security for Economic Gain: U.S. Arms Policy in an Insecure World

Similar to other consumer sectors of the global economy, the transfer of advanced conventional weapons and military technologies has entered the globalization process, a process that has qualitatively and quantitatively altered the composition and structure of U.S. national security policymaking. By injecting the decisionmaking process governing arms transfers into the global market place, U.S. policy makers must now reconcile maintaining economic competitiveness within the global system without jeopardizing U.S. national security interests. By subordinating national security interests to global economic imperatives, U.S. decisionmakers are at risk of mortgaging the political, societal, and security welfare of its citizenry for profit.