Business Representation in the UK Since 1979: the Case of Trade Associations

The article explores the impact of Conservative governments since 1979 on business representation. It concentrates on the trade association—the most common form of business organization in the UK but one which has been largely neglected in the discussion of business representation. The results of a major survey of trade associations conducted in 1994 are reported and their significance assessed in the light of three general propositions about the direction of business representation since 1979.     

One percent bikers clubs: A description

This paper, through an extensive literature review of biker websites, newspaper articles, popular books, the limited scholarly research, and court cases, as well as interviews and associations with law enforcement officers and 1% bikers, identifies and describes the major 1% biker clubs. The Big 5 clubs—Hell’s Angels, Bandidos, Outlaws, Pagans, and Sons of Silence— are discussed. Their history, number of chapters in the United States and overseas, and a “best guess estimate” of membership numbers are also provided. Similar information is provided on the major independent 1% biker clubs—Warlocks, Mongols and Iron Horsemen. There is also a brief discussion of the role of puppet (support) clubs and the four black or interracial 1% biker clubs. This research, describing the clubs, is the first step needed to stimulate research on this under researched topic.     

Human Rigghts: A Culture of Controversy

Many arguments in favour of constitutionally entrenched Bills of Rights are undermined by the inherently controversial nature of human rights with respect to their content, their form, and their valence. Even in the case of civil and political rights, the concretization of rights at the level of specificity required to decide particular cases must always be politically and morally controversial. There is no accepted moral or legal method that can be utilized to give the requisite objectivity to the value choices inherent in human rights jurisprudence. Positivization of human rights increases their utility but compromises their moral status. It follows that legitimate articulation of human rights requires ongoing democratic dialogue and decision-making. Although perceived as a stop-gap measure, the Human Rights Act 1998 could facilitate an enduring partnership between courts and parliaments, placing human rights more firmly on the political agenda and establishing a proper balance between the inputs of courts and parliaments which recognizes that the development of positivized human rights must be primarily located in electorally-based politics.     

试析美国奥巴马政府的核不扩散政策

奥巴马政府上台后,美国核不扩散政策出现了重要转变。这一转变既是奥巴马政府对布什政府核不扩散政策进行反思的结果,又是修复美国国际形象和维护其世界领导地位的战略需要,更是美国对朝鲜和伊朗的核开发问题施加压力的一种手段。奥巴马政府对美国核不扩散政策的调整,有利于国际核军控工作走上正轨;将对中国产生多重影响;对地区核问题的解决所产生的效果具有不确定性。     

Complex Social Organization: Multiple Organizing Modes, Structural Incongruence, and Mechanisms of Integration

This article conceptualizes and analyses a type of complex social organization consisting of heterogeneous organizing modes and social relationships, combining, for instance, relationships making up markets and hierarchies as well as various types of informal networks. Each mode is constituted and regulated on the basis of a system of social rules making up a particular normative order and operates in terms of its own particular rationality or social logic. When modes are combined or integrated into multi-institutional complexes or organizations, the resultant structure entails zones of incongruence and tension at the junctures or interfaces of the different organizing modes and social relationships. The article identifies a number of such incongruent organizing modes that are common in complex social organizations or inter- institutional complexes. It goes on to identify several of the institutional strategies and arrangements including rituals, non-task-oriented discourses, and mediating roles that actors develop and institutionalize in dealing effectively with incongruences and potential conflicts in complex, heterogeneous organizations. The article suggests that problems of structural incongruence - and the tensions and conflicts that arise in connection with it as well as responses to these - are major features of complex organizational and inter-institutional arrangements. Moreover, it suggests that social order - the shaping of congruent, meaningful experiences - in these complex organizations as in most social life builds on non-rational foundations such as rituals and non-instrumental discourses. These contribute to maintaining social order and to providing a stable context, even for rational decision-making and action.     

亚洲经济一体化——基于多国FTA战略角度

过去十年内,亚洲经济一体化取得了长足的发展,这一地区的主要经济体开始广泛地参与到区域经济一体化进程中。但是,由于历史纠葛、经济规模和发展水平差异,各方的区域经济一体化战略存在很大的差异。区域内外各方力量的博弈,更为亚洲经济一体化的未来发展增加了新的不确定性,也使得亚洲经济一体化开始逐渐偏离亚洲统一市场/大范围的区域FTA目标。唯有未来亚洲经济体经济实力格局发生变化,才可能从内部促成亚洲经济一体化回归其既定目标。     

Constitutional Values of Protecting Human Rights of Disadvantaged Groups

The confrontation between the disadvantaged and advantaged groups is eternal throughout the competition for survival. But the human spiritual world has its humane aspect in addition to competition. The concern for and protection of the disadvantaged group is the moral law characteristic of humanity, just as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in its Article 1： ＂All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.     

区域知识产权自主创新能力与潜力研究——以河北省为例

区域知识产权自主创新是国家知识产权战略的重要组成部分,但目前我国区域知识产权创新还存在着数量少、质量低、创新效率不高等问题。本文以河北省为例,分析了问题的主要原因在于知识产权创新体系不完善,创新意识淡薄,创新激励机制不完善,高层次创新人才不足,创新经费投入强度较低,创新平台的规模、结构不合理等六个方面。提高我国区域知识产权自主创新能力需要营造良好的知识产权创新社会文化环境,建立健全知识产权工作体系,培养和吸引高层次人才,拓宽融资渠道,建设并优化创新平台。