Does ASEAN Matter? International Relations Theories,Institutional Realism,and ASEAN

Abstract

The 1997 economic crisis and the ensuing political and social disorders not only have put regional security at stake, but also have seriously challenged the relevance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in regional affairs. This article introduces a new institutional theory – institutional realism – to address the widely debated questions: Does ASEAN matter? If so, how? It argues that (1) ASEAN still matters in terms of coping with extra-regional threats through an institutional balancing strategy; (2) ASEAN's future depends on its institutional consolidation in dealing with intra-regional security problems.     

Prosecuting international crimes at the International Criminal Court: is there a coherent and comprehensive prosecution strategy?

The authors analyze the so far published selection and strategy papers of the Office of the Prosecutor (“OTP”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) with a view to their consistency, coherence and comprehensiveness. Given the high number of communications and referrals to the ICC a focused strategy setting out the criteria for situation and case selection and prioritization should be one of the priorities of the Prosecutor. Thus far the Office has developed a strategic framework guided by four fundamental principles: focused investigations, positive complementarity, the interests of the victims and the impact of the OTP’s work. These four principles are critically evaluated by the authors in light of the ICC Statute and existing case law. In particular the positive complementarity approach, focusing on the cooperation with national jurisdictions and enhancing their own capacity to prosecute, is to be welcomed and reflects a realistic prosecutorial policy approach. The cooperation between the OTP and Germany in the prosecution of the leadership of the FDLR is a good case in point. Only such a close interaction with national jurisdictions enables the ICC to contribute to the further closing of the impunity gap. Yet, the OTP must still more precisely define its position with regard to the criteria used for the selection of situations and cases. Thus, a priority for the new Prosecutor should be the drafting of a more precise and comprehensive strategy, integrating the already existing policy and strategy papers as well as drawing on lessons learned.     

浅谈食品安全风险评估机构独立运行的必要性

目前,我国风险评估机构属行政序列,其评估工作不能独立、科学的运行,导致食品安全风险预警职能无法发挥,食品安全事故频发。食品安全风险评估机构有独立运行的必要性,为实现食品安全风险评估机构独立运行,应列入人大序列进行理论探讨,以求为实践提供借鉴。     

基于B/S与C/S混合架构的交通管理自助服务远程监管平台

针对自动设备管理水平和使用效率低、管理成本高以及对自助设备故障报修反应慢的问题,设计了采用B/S与C/S混合架构的交通管理自助服务远程监管平台.该平台是以公安网为依托,终端采集子系统为基础,面向公安交通管理部门管理人员、自助设备管理操作人员、呼叫中心座席、维护服务商等提供符合标准的、安全的自助设备监控管理服务功能.     

河北省农村社区矫正工作的发展策略

社区环境是开展社区矫正工作的基础。与城市社区相比,我国农村社区在经济发展水平、基础设施建设、人力资源储备等方面处于劣势,探索适合农村文化和现实的矫正制度是矫正工作者应当关注的重要问题之一。社区矫正工作实施以来,河北省在完善法律制度、建立工作机构和推进社区信息化建设等方面有所创新,但农村社区仍存在村民参与少、有关部门配合不顺畅,矫正措施层次低、工作队伍专业化不强等问题。社区矫正机构应当在现行法律框架内,结合农村实际,进一步转变观念、规范职能、提高矫正措施水平以及重视工作队伍建设,以推动农村社区矫正工作健康发展。     

Christian Religiosity and Voting for West European Radical Right Parties

This article examines the relationship between Christian religiosity and the support for radical right parties in Western Europe. Drawing on theories of electoral choice and on socio-psychological literature largely ignored by scholars of electoral behaviour, it suggests and tests a number of competing hypotheses. The findings demonstrate that while religiosity has few direct effects, and while religious people are neither more nor less hostile towards ethnic minorities and thereby neither more nor less prone to vote for a radical right party, they are not ‘available’ to these parties because they are still firmly attached to Christian Democratic or conservative parties. However, given increasing de-alignment, this ‘vaccine effect’ is likely to become weaker with time.     

Sports Cars,Sleaze and Gamma Rays: Rhineland-Palatinate Elects its First Red-Green Government

The 2011 election in Rhineland-Palatinate was a political earthquake: Following a string of political scandals, the SPD lost almost ten percentage points of their support, while the CDU could hardly improve on their disastrous 2006 result. The FDP is no longer represented in the state parliament. The Greens more than tripled their last result, allowing them to enter a coalition with the SPD for the first time.

Analyses at the municipal level show that the party improved most in their urban strongholds while still showing a (relatively) weak performance in rural areas. This will make it difficult to sustain the momentum of their victory. Moreover, the SPD is battered and bruised and needs to select a new leader, but veteran minister president Kurt Beck shows no inclination to step down. This does not bode well for a coalition that needs to organise the state's fiscal consolidation and structural transformation.     

Why did Thailand's middle class turn against a democratically elected government? The information-gap hypothesis

In 2006, Bangkok's middle-class residents overwhelmingly supported the military coup that displaced the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Survey research shows that opponents of Thaksin had a stronger commitment to liberal democracy and possibly to royalist values while rural voters supported Thaksin because he fulfilled their social demands. Opposition to Thaksin was not motivated by economic interests, but rather, there is some evidence that urban middle- and upper-class voters disliked Thaksin because they heard negative reporting about him, which were less available in the countryside. These findings are compatible with a new theory of democratic consolidation, in which the upper classes have the means that would enable and encourage them to pay sufficient attention to politics to discover that what they viewed as ‘good government’ was violated by the ruling party, which could have led to demands for more democracy historically. More recently, however, in Thailand and perhaps other instances in Southeast Asia and Latin America, those with the money and leisure to follow politics closely have heard reports about the ‘bad government’ of populist, democratically elected leaders, and thus have turned against them.