Indonesia's democratic stagnation: anti-reformist elites and resilient civil society

As Egypt and Tunisia begin difficult democratic transitions, comparative political scientists have pointed to the world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, as a role model. Seen as a stand-out exception from the global recession of democracy in the pre-2011 period, Indonesia has been praised as an example of a stable post-authoritarian polity. But a closer look at Indonesia's record in recent years reveals that its democratization is stagnating. As this article demonstrates, there have been several attempts to roll back reforms introduced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While not all of these attempts have been successful, Indonesia's democratic consolidation is now frozen at 2005–2006 levels. However, the reason for this democratic stasis, the article argues, is not related to Diamond's notion of societal dissatisfaction with bad post-authoritarian governance. Opinion polls clearly show continued support for democracy despite citizen disgruntlement over the effectiveness of governance. Instead, I contend that anti-reformist elites are the main forces behind the attempted roll back, with civil society emerging as democracy's most important defender. This insight, in turn, questions the wisdom of the decision by foreign development agencies – in Indonesia, but other countries as well – to reduce their support for non-governmental organizations and instead intensify their cooperation with government.     

Editorial

ABSTRACT

The current paper examined the association between childhood sexual victimization (CSV) and constructs thought to be relevant for sexual offending in secondary analyses of three samples of adult males who committed sexual offences against children (N?=?16, 28, and 20). Compared to participants who reported no CSV, those who reported CSV exhibited slightly to moderately more cognitive distortions and moderately to largely less negative evaluations of sexual offending against children; slightly to moderately higher self-esteem, positive evaluation of people who commit sexual offences, and identification with people who commit sexual offences against children; and much more emotional congruence with children. Our findings suggest that CSV may be associated with variables presumed to play a role in sexual offending against children. However, given the small sample sizes and other limitations of our studies, our evidence does not permit conclusions regarding causal relationships and any novel findings require replication.     

Enhancing sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa: concepts,recommendations and illustrations

In recent years, the concept of sustainable development has received renewed attention. As global resources shrink and needs continue to grow, the staying power of development impact is becoming central concern of both governments and donors. Recent studies have shown that only a small percentage of projects throughout the world have achieved sustainability, and the need for improving the long-term vitality of development investments is growing. No area in the world has shown more need of this than Africa. This paper outlines a conceptual approach for analyzing sustainability and synthesizes the lessons learned from the application of this model in recent field work. The model is based on the theory that two preconditions must exist before sustainability can occur: 1 ) commitment to long term sustainable development; and 2) beneficiary and stakeholder involvement via incentives which support achieving sustainability . Fieldwork-based recommendations to enhance sustainability include: 1) understand the long-term incentive structure that drives the project; 2) identify performance targets and communicate results early-on; 3) identify long-term recurrent costs and funding options; 4) build in flexibility to the project plan; 5) build-in ways for participants to support and “take ownership” of the project; 6) use local resources, both human and physical, and keep technologies simple; and 7) use marketing strategies to reinforce perceived, satisfactory benefits of the project. Case examples of successful African projects from West Africa, Burkina Faso and Kenya illustrate the application of the sustainability concepts. In the context of these illustrations, the sustainability framework appears useful for understanding and analyzing sustainability and provides a necessary addition to thinking about development projects and programs.     

当代西方社会融合研究的概念、理论及应用

尽管社会融合一直为社会学家、心理学家、政策分析家和政策制定者们所关注,但社会融合的定义还比较纷杂,其理论也缺乏一贯性,一般被视为多维度现象或多参数的潜变量.根据研究对象和目的的不同,将相关研究区分为实证研究和政策应用两个研究领域;依据关注层次的不同,将社会融合的研究归纳为个体层次、群体层次和整体层次等三个层次.以此为脉络,首先介绍了社会融合在社会学、社会心理学和政策研究中的概念;其次,对社会融合由来已久的"同化论"与"多元化"之间的争议进行了回顾,并评述了社会融合和社会网络理论之间的关系;再次,总结了社会融合的测量方法及其在实证研究和政策研究中的应用情况;最后指出社会融合时中国转型社会背景下相关研究的借鉴意义,并对其在中国的应用前景进行了讨论.     

Freedom of information and data protection law – A conflict or reconciliation?

The interface between the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts is complex and reconciling the two regimes has required considerable legislative contortion. The emerging body of jurisprudence relating to s.40 of FOIA demonstrates that assessing the operation of the exemption requires a degree of sophistication, balancing the rights of FOIA applicants and the public with the privacy rights of public officials.     

Du sollst nicht stören!

Natur und Recht - Das Urteil des EuGH vom 4.3.2021 hat große Aufmerksamkeit erlangt. Soweit grundlegende Klarstellungen zur Reichweite des die europäischen Vogelarten betreffenden...     

Kampf um Souveränität?

The article documents a panel debate held at the Kiel congress of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in September 2009. With its Lisbon judgment passed in June 2009, the German Federal Constitutional Court delivered a groundbreaking decision on Germany’s involvement in the European integration process. The Court ruled that the German accompanying law (Begleitgesetz) violated the national constitution because it did not guarantee sufficient parliamentary involvement. Furthermore, the Court announced its intention to intensify the constitutional control of the national applicability of European legal acts (the ultra vires control and the identity control). Stephan Leibfried, Marcus Höreth, Martin Höpner, Fritz W. Scharpf and Michael Zürn discuss the judgment with respect to its implications for the further integration process, for the national and supranational capacities to act, for the democratic quality in the European multilevel system and for political-economic problems.     

BREACH OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY NIGERIAN POLICE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS FUNCTIONS＂ NEED FOR A REFORM

Nigerian Police is charged with the responsibility of upholding the law and ensuring order is kept within the polity. It is however observed that the police in carrying out its functions constantly abuses the rights of the citizens which are considered as natural rights and very fundamental to every human existence. This study aims at examining the roles of the police in Nigeria and the various ways and the rights of citizens are being encroached upon by the said police. The legal standards prescribed for the operations of Nigerian police are measured against the international standards as a parameter in order to determine the weak points of the Nigerian standards. Suggestions are therefore made on how Nigerian police can be more humane in carrying out its functions.