Influencing Public Opinion of Space Policy: Programmatic Effects Versus Education Effects

The public is generally supportive of space policy, but less supportive of spending for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) compared to other government programs. Previous research has helped identify who is more likely to be supportive of NASA spending, but not why. This study seeks to understand the causal mechanisms that influence support for NASA. Using natural between-survey and induced within-survey experiments, this study attempts to identify factors influencing changes in public support for NASA spending. Short-term programmatic and related media effects appear to have no influence on public support for NASA spending. However, correcting information asymmetries in regard to NASA's budget appears to have a significant positive effect on public support for NASA spending. The findings speak to the importance of the public being well informed on policy issues in order to make a correct policy choice, and demonstrate that individual programmatic aspects may not be as important as overall agency direction.     

Singaporean foreign policy and the Asian Values Debate, 1992–2000: reflections on an experiment in soft power

Between 1992 and 2000, the international order witnessed a clash of discourses not seen since the height of the Cold War when both superpowers engaged in propaganda offensives to assert the superiority of their respective governing ideologies. However, unlike the Cold War, the Asian Values Debate did not involve a supporting cast of armed occupations, insurgencies and the preaching of revolution. It involved instead statements of difference couched in intellectual and material terms, and also relied heavily on persuasion by words and symbolic deeds. This article seeks to evaluate Singaporean foreign policy in the Asian Values Debate by using the concept of soft power as described by Joseph Nye. However, soft power, as the ability to obtain foreign policy ends through attraction or convincing rather than through coercion, is itself vulnerable to instances where the ideas propounded diverge from the practices they purport to inspire. Singapore’s role in the Debate will be examined through three events at its zenith between 1992 and 2000: the clash between Asia and the West at the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna, the Michael Fay Caning Affair which directly pitted Singapore against the US in 1994, and the fate of the Asian exceptionalist argument in the face of the 1997–99 Asian Financial Crisis. The conclusion suggests that Singaporean foreign policy’s experiment in soft power has had its successes, but it remains qualified in its applicability to other Asian foreign policies by certain limits inherent in the Singaporean discourse.     

社会主义荣辱观与官德建设

社会主义荣辱观作为社会主义核心价值体系的基本内容之一,涵盖了官德建设的基本原则和规范。“八荣八耻”与我党长期倡导的领导干部作风建设高度一致,树立了官德建设的标杆。它凸显“为人民服务”的基本道德原则,实现了官员的角色责任;蕴涵“科学执政、民主执政、依法执政”,体现了官员的角色技能;规范执政者的道德品质,这是官员角色调解的基础。     

论行政法上的平等原则

平等原则作为宪法位阶的一般原则 ,系一切法律的基本原则 ,其基本内涵是 :同等情况同等对待 ,不同情况区别对待。平等的公法内涵是 :国家不得恣意地实施差别待遇。平等原则适用的实质是其归类问题 ,要满足平等原则的要求 ,合理的归类是不可避免的。在行政立法、行政执法、司法审查的三大领域中引入宪法位阶之平等原则的意义在于解决因具体法律规则的缺位 ,相对方虽可叩开法院大门 ,但仍无法获得有效救济之困惑     

人道主义的马克思主义社会发展观及其启示

人道主义的马克思主义认为,社会主义在本质上就是人道主义,社会发展的目标是建立一个有人性的社会。他们强调在社会发展过程中,要充分尊重和发展人的个性,认为经济发展只是社会发展的手段,社会发展的目标最终是为了人自身的发展。人道主义的马克思主义社会发展观,对于我们牢固树立和自觉实践“以人为本”的科学发展观,有重要的借鉴和启迪作用。     

Race, Income, and College in 25 Years: Evaluating Justice O'Connor's Conjecture

In Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice O’Connor conjecturedthat in 25 years affirmative action in college admissions willbe unnecessary. We project the test score distribution of blackand white college applicants 25 years from now, focusing onthe role of black–white family income gaps. Economic progressalone is unlikely to narrow the achievement gap enough in 25years to produce today’s racial diversity levels withrace-blind admissions. A return to the rapid black–whitetest score convergence of the 1980s could plausibly cause blackrepresentation to approach current levels at moderately selectiveschools, but not at the most selective schools.