Exploring the Political Agency of Humanitarian NGOs: Médecins Sans Frontières During the European Refugee Crisis

Due to the recent high influx of refugees, migration has become one of the most politicised issues within the European Union (EU). To explore the political agency of humanitarian NGOs, this article analyses the behaviour of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) during the peak of the influx from April 2015 to June 2016. Outrage about the EU’s response to the refugee crisis triggered confrontational and politicised strategies from MSF that aimed to enhance contestation and mobilise public opinion. The proximity of the crisis and the organisation’s independence and decentralised structure facilitated this political agency. Furthermore, neither MSF’s strong commitment to the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, nor its cooperative ties to national and international political elites, hindered its political actions in this situation. This article therefore refutes the common perspective that humanitarian NGOs are generally cooperative and, ultimately, depoliticising agents in global governance. Under certain conditions, humanitarian NGOs can decide to become highly political and confrontational in opposing national and EU policies.     

Preventing suicide in prisons, part II. International comparisons of suicide prevention services in correctional facilities

The International Association for Suicide Prevention created a Task Force on Suicide in Prisons to better disseminate the information in this domain. One of its objectives was to summarize suicide-prevention activities in the prison systems. This study of the Task Force uncovered many differences between countries, although mental health professionals remain central in all suicide prevention activities. Inmate peer-support and correctional officers also play critical roles in suicide prevention but there is great variation in the involvement of outside community workers. These differences could be explained by the availability of resources, by the structure of the correctional and community services, but mainly by the different paradigms about suicide prevention. While there is a common and traditional paradigm that suicide prevention services are mainly offered to individuals by mental health services, correctional systems differ in the way they include (or not) other partners of suicide prevention: correctional officers, other employees, peer inmates, chaplains/priests, and community workers. Circumstances, history, and national cultures may explain such diversity but they might also depend on the basic way we think about suicide prevention at both individual and environmental levels.     

Social Coping by Masking? Parental Support and Peer Victimization as Mediators of the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Expressive Suppression in Adolescents

Expressive suppression is regarded as a generally ineffective emotion regulation strategy and appears to be associated with the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents. However, the mechanisms linking suppression to depressive symptoms are not well understood. The main aim of this study was to examine two potential mediators of the prospective relationship from depressive symptoms to expressive suppression among adolescents: parental support and peer victimization. Structural equation modelling was used to construct a three-wave cross-lagged model (n?=?2,051 adolescents, 48.5?% female, at baseline; 1,465 with data at all three time points) with all possible longitudinal linkages. Depressive symptoms preceded decreases in perceived parental support 1?year later. Decreases in parental support mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and increases in expressive suppression over a 2-year period. Multi-group analyses show that the mediation model tested was significant for girls, but not for boys. No evidence for other mediating models was found. Although initial suppression preceded increases in depressive symptoms 1?year later, we did not find any evidence for the reversed link from suppression to depressive symptoms. Clear evidence for a reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and parental support was found. However, only limited and inconsistent support was found for a reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and peer victimization. Finally, although some evidence for a unidirectional relationship from parental support to increases in suppression was found, no significant prospective relationship was found between peer victimization and suppression. The implications of our clear results for parental support, and mostly lacking results for peer victimization, are discussed.     

从“省直管县财政改革”迈向“省直管县行政改革”——安徽省直管县财政改革的调查与思考

安徽等地实行的省直管县财政改革和扩权强县改革,在创新财政体制、推动县域经济发展、提高行政管理效率等方面取得了明显成效,但省直管县财政体制与市管县行政体制并存也产生了亟待解决的问题。要从根本上解决这些问题,继续放大财政改革和扩权改革的体制能量与制度功效,必须适时启动和稳步推进省直管县行政改革,构建扁平化的省直管县公共行政体制。     

论侵权责任法规定行政侵权责任的必要性

行政侵权与一般民事侵权是两种不同的侵权,行政侵权责任是在公法领域中发生的私法责任。法院在审判实践中处理行政侵权案件时,应当优先适用国家赔偿法的有关规定;国家赔偿法无规定时则适用一般法,也就是适用侵权责任法的规定。民事法律规范在行政赔偿问题上的继续适用有内在的合理性;侵权责任法草案对行政侵权责任做出原则性的规定,符合我国的立法传统。因此,将来的侵权责任法规定行政侵权责任是必要的,也是可行的。     

Is Co-decision Good for the Environment? An Analysis of the European Parliament's Green Credentials

The European Parliament (EP) has long been regarded as a positive force for environmental change in the EU, but there has been little detailed empirical scrutiny to determine whether its reputation as a green champion is deserved. Nor has there been any evaluation of the environmental impact of the increase in EP powers under co-decision. These oversights are rectified by an evaluation of the EP's amendments to environmental legislation using typologies that rank them in terms of their level of ecological commitment and importance. EP amendments proposed under three procedures of decision making are compared in order to determine whether recent increases in the EP's powers under the co-decision procedure have affected its ability and willingness to adopt 'green' amendments. It is clear that the EP has consistently tried to strengthen environmental legislation but there is some ambiguity as to whether co-decision has been good for the environment.     

Guess What Happened on the Way to Revolution? Precursors to the Supreme Court's Federalism Revolution

In recent years, the Rehnquist Court has been accused of usheringin a "federalism revolution." The Court's decisions have beencontentious and often viewed as assertions of the Court's anti-majoritarianpower. However, these assessments misunderstand the role ofthe Court in the American political system. Not only are theCourt's recent decisions relatively modest departures from existingconstitutional doctrine, but its rediscovery of federalism follows,rather than leads, developments in the elected branches. Effortsto rehabilitate federalism as a political value began in theelected branches as early as the 1960s. By 1980, federalismhad become an important cleavage issue between the parties;Republicans advocated a form of "fixed federalism" while Democratsadvocated a form of "flexible federalism." Despite the desireof the Reagan and Bush administrations to use the judiciaryto advance the GOP's view of federalism, confirmation hearingsfor members of the Rehnquist Court demonstrate that Democratsin Congress paid little attention to federalism. Attitudes aboutfederalism thus made their way onto the Court without noticeand without challenge, and the sharp disagreements that emergedon the Court during the late-1990s mirror the same party cleavagesthat developed much earlier in the elected branches.     

加拿大面对的北极挑战:主权、安全与认同

由于全球暖化对北极地区产生的影响,使得北极资源开采与航运的战略价值再度成为人们关注的亮点。西北航道开通的可能性,以及北极蕴藏的丰富石油、天然气与矿物,让观察家认为加拿大北极主权问题将再度成为争议的核心。美加之间多年来关于西北航道控制权的争议,以及环北极国家之间因大陆架延伸的重叠而发生纠纷,并非一定会导致冲突,相反地,透过协调与外交斡旋或许对各方更有利。加拿大北极主权问题,其实也是认同问题,而加拿大必须展现对北极地区更多的投入意愿。     

To monitor or intervene? City managers and the implementation of strategic initiatives

Strategic initiatives represent a government's response to constituent and organizational needs, but are only effective if properly implemented. In local governments with a council‐manager form of government, city managers face a unique dilemma as compounding challenges of implementation often require them to step into leadership roles typically reserved for elected officials. For this qualitative study, 16 city managers and project leaders from US local governments were interviewed regarding the implementation of nine varied strategic initiatives. The responses indicate that city managers play an important dual role in implementation—first, monitoring the progress of the implementation team and the satisfaction of the stakeholder coalition; and second, choosing to intervene directly in implementation decision‐making when they observe missteps by the implementers or discontent from the stakeholders. These conclusions contribute to the practice perspective of strategic management theory and a better understanding of the institutional leadership role of city managers.