Southeast Asia and conflict prevention. Is ASEAN running out of steam?

Abstract

If the assessment of ASEAN's success in the past is difficult, speculations on whether ASEAN will be a success will be close to impossibility. Yet this is what is intended in this article. However, this is done by first defining robust criteria of success of conflict prevention. Conflict prevention is successful if conflicts and battle deaths can be avoided, either by means of conflict resolution or transformation, or simply by means of conflict avoidance. By starting with this criterion the article will argue that ASEAN peacefulness cannot be explained by durable objective conditions. Instead, it is built on imagined realities. The imagined realities of the ASEAN Way are getting more difficult to sustain due to their interaction with material and normative/institutional developments. Many of the constructed foundations of the ASEAN Way are unsustainable in the new realities where communication has become easy and uncontrollable, and societies have become wealthier and more democratized. However, the article will show that evidence of existing conflict violence suggests that ASEAN has started to reformulate its approach to conflict prevention and that this has largely been successful.     

Really ‘Two Deeply Divided Electorates’? German Federal Elections 1990–2013

It has become both a tradition and a key feature of electoral studies after 1990 to frame the debate about German voting behaviour in terms of East and West. To study national voting patterns has become a synonym for comparing both parts of the country. The corresponding findings are frequently interpreted as an answer to the recurring question whether the Germans (still) form a disunited electorate or not. However, the comparative look at electoral results in East and West conceals regional fragmentation within both areas – the key for evaluating the relevance of East–West frictions. By analysing those aspects, which are widely believed to yield deep East–West gaps, the article shows that only left-wing voting and electoral turnout indicate two unchangingly distinct voting habits for the complete post-unification time. Right-wing voting (divergence) and volatility (convergence) in turn were subject to major shifts.     

商标注册不得侵犯在先权利之姓名权——易建联公司与“易建联”商标注册争议纠纷案解析

一、引言在现代市场经济社会中,商标是连接消费者和厂商之间的桥梁和纽带。商标作为识别不同厂商之间生产经营的商品或者服务的区别性标记,也是厂商确立商业信誉,赢得消费者青睐,从而建立市场竞争优势的重要武器。商标保护的本质就是厂商在商标上负载的商业信誉和商品声誉。为了使消费者建立正确的排他性认知,商标法通过相应制度的构建来保...     

Professional responses to ‘parental alienation’: research-informed practice

ABSTRACT

Parental alienation was historically a term rejected by courts in England and Wales, but lawyers and social workers have noted an increase in the incidence of its use, possibly driven by campaign groups and media narratives. The two statutory services that provide independent social work advice to courts in England and Wales, respectively, on children’s best interests in parenting disputes, have taken different approaches to developing practice guidance in response to concerns about the recent use of alienation terminology. A review of international research and domestic case law was undertaken as part of the development of guidance in Wales. This review revealed a dearth of reliable evidence on the concept of parental alienation, its prevalence, effects and measures for intervention. This article builds on that review and recent developments to discuss the progress being made in practice to counter myths about alienation and considers how best to support practitioners in resisting pressures to conform to these powerful narratives.     

A small state’s anticipation of institutional change: effects of the looming Brexit in the areas of the CSDP and internal market

ABSTRACT

Brexit will profoundly change politics in the European Union, and all countries will have to adjust to the new situation. But the issue is more pressing for small member states that are more dependent on international organisations than big states. This article studies how the institutional setting affects a small state’s preparations for Brexit in the areas of the common security and defence policy and internal market. Contrary to the expectations, it shows that the Czech Republic, the small state under scrutiny, has invested more effort into a preventive adjustment in the internal market policy than to the CSDP. This result is explained by the existence of alternative institutional frameworks that are expected to mitigate the impact of Brexit on EU’s security and defence policy. It also suggests that while small states profit from the existence of strong institutions, they also face the risk of unmitigated impact when these institutions change.     

地级市财政性社会支出的不均等及其分解——基于回归方程的不均等分解

作为政府提供基本公共服务的基础资源,财政性社会支出的均等化是公共服务均等化的前提。基于2007和2008年地级市数据,本文发现地级市间人均财政性社会支出很不均等,基尼系数为0.336和0.313。计量分析表明,人均财政支出、财政依赖度、城镇化、国有就业比重与人均财政性社会支出正相关。回归方程的不均等分解发现:人均财政支出、城镇化等结构性因素是不均等的促增因素;2007年地区差异是促增因素,而2008年随着中部"福利赶超"而转为促减因素;财政依赖度发挥了首要但有限的均等化效应;国有就业比重在2007促减因素,2008年几乎不发挥影响。研究的政策意涵是中央政府应将体制性改革置于优先位置,而短期内改革财政转移制度、加强财政横向公平有助于促进财政性社会支出的均等化。