关于性骚扰立法的几点思考--兼评《妇女权益保障法》相关条款

本文就中国性骚扰立法提出浅见。首先须准确界定性骚扰的概念,将公众场所性骚扰、女性对男性性骚扰、同性间性骚扰和非受雇性骚扰纳入性骚扰范畴;其次坚持以反性别歧视法为主的立法路径,明确雇主责任;最后应综合运用公法和私法手段,形成反性骚扰的法律体系。     

确立检察机关拘留权之构想

拘留权是决定和执行拘留的权力。根据我国现行刑事诉讼法的有关规定,拘留统一由公安机关来执行,检察机关只有对自行侦查的案件在特定情况下的拘留决定权,而没有拘留执行权。这就使检察机关在侦查实践中处于相当被动和尴尬的境地,影响了侦查程序的顺利进行,进而影响了诉讼的效益。应当尽快赋予检察机关一个完整而又名副其实的拘留权。     

社会主义荣辱观教育与青少年成长——论艰苦奋斗精神的继承与发展

社会主义荣辱观中的“艰苦奋斗精神”,既继承了中华民族传统美德的精华,并赋予其深刻的时代内涵,又充分体现了现代人的崇高追求和高尚境界,是社会主义伦理观、道德观和价值观的精确提炼和生动体现。社会主义荣辱观中的“艰苦奋斗精神”作为一种精神价值,在不同的时代,内容和形式虽然有所变化,但它绝不会消失。我们要教育和引导青少年继承和发扬艰苦奋斗的光荣传统,为社会多作贡献。     

关于扩大人大财政监督职责的几个问题

在我国,审议财政预算及其执行情况,是各级人民代表大会及其常务委员会监督政府机关的工作,规范政府行为的重要途径。由于历史和现实诸多因素的制约,目前我国人大财政预算监督质量还不高。对此我们认为:一、应该对人大的财政监督职能及其实施有更加明确、规范的规定。二、针对我国目前预算实施所出现的问题,考虑(1)建立重大项目的特别全程审查制度。(2)加强人大对部门预算的审查。三、明确“第二财政”的财政性,把他的使用纳入人大的审查和监督的范围。     

Governing China in the early 21st century: Provincial perspective

China is a country of provinces and provincial leaders are important players in Chinese politics. It is important to know who will be governing China’s provinces in the early 21^st century and how they are going to govern them. This paper will attempt to address three critical issues related to governance of China’s provinces. First, it will describe the new provincial leadership of the early 21^st century. It will identify significant changes in terms of personal characteristics of this new leadership compared to that of earlier years. Second, it will analyze political structural changes at the provincial level. It will look at the relationship among several important provincial institutions and identify significant historical changes. Third, it will assess public policy orientations of the new provincial leadership.     

The Politics of Caste in India’s New Land Wars

ABSTRACT

In this article we introduce the special issue through framing the debate on the role of caste in India’s current land wars. We draw attention to how caste consistently mediates land transfers in present day India by pre-empting, undermining, or fuelling processes of social contestation, as well as the ways in which land claims in turn shape realigned or reimagined caste identities. Based on this, we make three main arguments. The first and most obvious one is that in contemporary conflicts over land, caste matters in evolving ways that deserve attention. Second, we argue that caste and land are recursively linked categories that are produced and reproduced in continuous interaction, even as multi-scalar political economies (re)shape them. And third, that different registers of caste are articulated by different social groups in more or less overt ways as they stake often competing claims to land.     

Big dreams and small steps: comparative perspectives on the social movement struggle for democracy in Serbia and North Macedonia

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a comparative analysis of social movements’ characteristics and capacities to struggle against illiberal tendencies and incite political change in Serbia and North Macedonia. First, we discuss the illiberal elements of political regimes in the countries in question, Serbia and North Macedonia. Then, we provide a comprehensive overview of progressive social movements in the two countries, formed and organized as a response to different authoritarian and non-democratic tendencies. Finally, we point to some differences in their organizing, coalition-forging and issue-defining principles, which, we believe, may help to explain the relative success of social movements in North Macedonia in producing relevant political outcomes, compared to the weak political impact of social movements in Serbia. Empirical data were collected during the summer of 2018 through in-depth interviews with members of social movements in North Macedonia and Serbia.     

Subnational competitive authoritarianism and power-sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT

Incremental democratic decline is evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but measures of democracy conceal an uneven subnational distribution of autocratization. So far there has been limited research on the drivers and constraints to subnational autocratization. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on power-sharing by exploring instances of illiberal politics enacted by parties in government at the subnational level in BiH. Evidence is gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysis of three specific cases of illiberal politics. We find that the political contest in BiH is purposefully contained within ethnic and subnational boundaries and constrained through several layers of institutionalized multilevel and ethnic checks and balances. The main drivers of subnational autocratization are opportunities that arise from the institutional framework established during early democratization and postwar structures that blend executive dominance with economic power and informal party networks, and occasionally from an individual actor’s perceptions of threat. Democratization in BiH will need to address subnational politics and deep-rooted power structures if it is to be successful.     

The rise of illiberal politics in Southeast Europe

ABSTRACT

Democracy is backsliding throughout Southeast Europe but there are no signs of full democratic breakdown. Instead, political parties and their leaders incrementally undermine challenges to governmental authority while keeping electoral contest largely intact. This article introduces a special issue that aims to examine and explain democratic decline by looking at the prevalence of illiberal politics across countries and issues. In order to overcome the limitations of fixed regime classification we adopt a procedural lens and look into governing practices that gradually tilt the electoral playing field. Utilizing the concept of Illiberal politics allows us to examine sets of policies enacted by political parties in government with the aim to remain in power indefinitely. By tracing democratic decline in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia we observe different patterns of weakness, but also common causes arising from weak institutions and inherited governance practices that preserve executive dominance, patronage, and informality.     

Y-chromosome STR haplotypes in Somalis

A total of 201 males from Somalia were typed for the Y-chromosome STRs DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389-I, DYS389-II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439 with the PowerPlex Y kit (Promega). A total of 96 different haplotypes were observed and the haplotype diversity was 0.9715. The number of unique haplotypes was 71 while the most common haplotype was observed 24 times.