中国、美国与正在演变中的亚洲秩序

中国崛起是一个复合概念,既包括经济、军事等硬实力方面,也包括国际规范、高等教育等软实力方面。这对亚洲地区的国际秩序来说无疑是一个新的变量,但不能就此认为亚洲地区已形成了中国主导的国际秩序。实际上,正在演变中的亚洲秩序是一个包含有轮毂模式、有限共治模式、规范共同体模式和复合相互依赖模式四种秩序特征的复合体。同时,中国崛起对中美关系来说无疑也注入了新的元素,但并非就如现实主义者所预测的那么悲观,中美之间的合作远大于分歧,我们尤其应该注意在中美之间还存在许多不确定因素。     

Acts of Faith: Churches and Political Engagement

Many observers suggest that white evangelical Protestant churches serve to mobilize their members into politics, while others argue that they encourage withdrawal from political life. This paper reconciles these two claims. I hypothesize that the time members of evangelical Protestant denominations spend in service to their church comes at the expense of participation in the wider community, contrary to the way mainline Protestant and Catholic churches foster civic activity among their members. However, I further hypothesize that the tight social networks formed through this intensive church activity can at times facilitate rapid and intense political mobilization. Data from the Citizen Participation Study supports the first hypothesis, while applying King's method of ecological inference to two elections in Alabama supports the second.     

Democracy and the Violation of Human Rights: A Statistical Analysis from 1976 to 1996

Most studies posit and identify a linear and negative relationship between democracy and the violation of human rights. Some research challenges this finding, however, suggesting that nonlinear influences exist. Within this article, we examine the structure of the relationship between democracy and repression during the time period from 1976 to 1996. To conduct our analysis, we utilize diverse statistical approaches which are particularly flexible in identifying influences that take a variety of functional forms (specifically LOESS and binary decomposition). Across measures and methodological techniques, we found that below a certain level, democracy has no impact on human rights violations, but above this level democracy influences repression in a negative and roughly linear manner. The implications of this research are discussed within the conclusion .     

A Longitudinal Study of Self-Awareness and Depressed Mood in Adolescence

The relationship between longitudinal variations of self-awareness and depressed mood in 479 adolescents was examined across four waves of data collection over a seven-year period. Self-awareness was significantly associated with depressed mood, and this association was strongest during midadoles-cence. Regression analyses of changes of depressed mood over time suggest mutual influence between self-awareness and depressed mood. Stressful life events, such as pubescent changes and the relationship with significant others, explained variations in self-awareness. Different influences of these life events were important at varying stages of adolescence.     

Is the Higher Public Service a Profession?

Professionalisation in the public services is regarded as essential but the concept is ambiguous and organisationally weak. Moreover, if not jeopardised by managerialism, public service professionalisation today faces some major barriers or limitations. Nonetheless, the public service may be able to maintain greater professional status with increased emphasis on job security, occupational closure and horizontal organisation. The prospects for such conditions may now seem remote, but with this criteria in mind Australia will neglect the professionalism of its public service very much to its cost.