‘Hurry no man's cattle’: British rule and suicide in China

The British authorities in the leased territory of Weihaiwei were concerned that too many Chinese, particularly women, resorted to suicide. In response, they made it obligatory to report suicides, educated the public and the police on how to effect rescues, and appointed a medical assistant with special responsibility for suicide rescue work. In spite of being remarkably well informed of the social significance of suicide in China, government efforts to deal with the causes of suicide were limited. In particular, the government did little to alter the circumstances of women in the territory. They provided few opportunities for education and were reluctant to prohibit foot-binding or to discourage families from putting pressure on widows to remarry. The limited response of the government to the problem of suicide was consistent with its general administrative policy of effecting little change to the fabric of life in the Chinese villages. The fact that the magistrates, in their treatment of suicide, expressed a deference to Chinese law, was part and parcel of the same general policy of the British administration of Weihaiwei.     

An Empty Shell? Rethinking the Usury Laws in Medieval Europe

Abstract

Many historians have argued that the usury laws were a dead letter and that usurious practices were widespread during the Middle Ages. This review of canonical rule formation in Europe shows that many contracts were outside the prohibition and that the laws were highly effective. The popularity of financial instruments depended on obtaining the Church's approval, and ecclesiastical tribunals pursued usurers relentlessly. Although it is not possible to measure with any precision the incidence of usury or the effectiveness of the prohibition, arguments of a high incidence of usury do not stand up in the light of evidence from the contemporary legal context.     

Management 2000

Public Management 2000 will need to do much more if it is to perform more effectively in an increasingly difficult and challenging environment likely to emerge in the next decade. To make any appreciable difference, it must prepare itself now by internationalizing public service attitudes, adapting to the changing role of the state in society and assimilating the new public managerialism which is beginning to take hold in Western countries. Furthermore, it needs to be much less tolerant of public maladministration, it must improve its public relations image, and it should strengthen its commitment to public service. Above all, public managers must take their own professional commitments more seriously and their professional associations must play a bigger role in promoting better performance. But integrating science and practice will be worthless without professional integrity. Otherwise, Public Management 2000 will just follow Business Management 2000 and remain the poor relative doing an inferior job.

Public managers will look back on the 1980s with some nostalgia. Compared with the numerous challenges that will confront them long before the year 2000, the past decade will appear in retrospect to be a rather peaceful period of adjustment. True, they had to cope with a severe crisis in the downturn of public resources, the quest for external funds and internal economies, the demand for privatization and the divestment of state monopolies, and pressure for improved public sector productivity. In some parts of the world they had acute problems of political instability, civil war, insurrection, economic paralysis, foreign intervention and institutionalized corruption.

Those who look to the 1990s for relief have not had much cause for optimism. The new decade did not begin well. Two specific events stood out. One was the collapse of bureaucratic centralism and the disinte-gration of the East Bloc, presenting an ideological challenge to the Left when the ground was virtually cut from under its feet. The other was yet another Middle East crisis threatening world energy reserves, military confrontation and international intervention that changed the rules of the former world order.

Another ominous trend was the corruption revealed in the transaction of public affairs all around the world, ranging from the stock market scandals in the United States and Japan to illegal international trade in narcotics and armaments, from the collapse of unworthy banking houses to the kleptocracy of dictators. These undermined public confidence in public institu0tions and revealed how government and public admini-stration could not be trusted to protect public interests. Managerialism cannot do much against greed. As Scott and Hart conclude⁽³⁾:

Greed appears to be the hallmark of our times, when corporate raiders loot perfectly sound companies or raid government programs for no other reason than that they are there to be looted and raided. ⁽³⁾

All these problems crowd in on public management and make managing the public's business much more difficult and uncertain.

The 1990s will be volatile and no doubt there are more startling events in store as the world heads into the 21st century. Nothing can be taken for granted any more; there are few givens. Only brave or foolish persons can claim to predict the future, and they are likely to be wrong. Like everyone else, they will be caught off guard by any number of surprising and unexpected happenings, beyond current imagination. The only certainty is that the future will not resemble the present; it will not be a mere continuation of the past. Public sector managers more so than their private sector counterparts will just have to be ready for anything, particularly the hidden twists and turns and cope the best they can in the circumstances. But there is a world of difference between facing the future blind and ignorant or aware and wise (or at least clued-in) and perhaps prepared. If they do not start preparing themselves now, they will certainly be unprepared by the year 2000. One thing is clear -- unless public managers take themselves more seriously, their future will be determined largely by others and that usually means following the business route.     

村规民约:国家法与民族习惯法调适的路径选择——以融水苗族村规民约对财产权的规定为视角

广西融水苗族村规民约在财产权保护上十分重视,以较大篇幅对财产权的保护以及财产权纠纷的规制进行规定,在承继和发展苗族习惯法有益部分的基础上有力地维护了村民利益,同时明确地将自己定位在国家法的框架内,逐步向国家法治靠拢.因此,对广西融水苗族村规民约的阐述更明确了村规民约作为国家法与少数民族习惯法不断调适的首要选择和最佳途径.     

论党的十一届三中全会以来社会主义社会基本矛盾理论的运用和发展

党的十一届三中全会以来社会主义社会基本矛盾理论的运用和发展突出表现在四个方面 :一是科学区分社会主义社会的基本制度和具体体制 ,正确分析我国现阶段社会基本矛盾相适应和不相适应的两个方面 ;二是坚持改革与解决社会基本矛盾相联系的观点 ,深刻阐明改革是解决社会主义社会基本矛盾的根本途径 ;三是坚持生产力是社会发展最终决定力量的原理 ,牢固确立生产力标准在社会主义社会基本矛盾运动中的绝对权威地位 ;四是以改革的实践 ,丰富、深化对社会主义社会基本矛盾内在联系和运动规律的认识。     

Sir George Clerk and the struggle for British influence in central Europe, 1919-26

During the Great War, Sir George Clerk was a senior Foreign Office official, strongly sympathetic to the cause of the 'oppressed nationalities' of Austria-Hungary and the liberal ideals associated with the journal, The New Europe. In 1919 he was granted a unique opportunity to shape the face of the New Europe when he embarked on his mission to Hungary. As British minister to Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s, Clerk harnessed his idealism for the Czechs to his ambition to make Prague a centre of British influence and power in central Europe. Though this policy ultimately failed, Clerk showed a greater rapport and sympathy for the Czechs than any of his successors.     

Agricultural Diversity and Child Stunting in Nepal

Abstract

This article investigates empirical connections between agriculture and child nutrition in Nepal. We augment the standard approach to explaining child nutrition outcomes by including information about household level agricultural production characteristics, including indicators of agricultural diversity. Data from the 2010/2011 Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) are used in a series of regression models to explain stunting outcomes and variation in height-for-age Z-scores among 1,769 children 0–59 months of age. Results highlight the relative importance of overall agricultural yields, specific crop groups, and the consumption of own-production as factors correlated with long-term nutrition among children of different age groups. We find a small positive association between the degree of commercial market-orientation of households and child HAZ, but only among children under 24 months of age.