Open source software (OSS) governance in the organisation

Going into the century's second decade, Open Source Software (OSS) is ubiquitous. But there remains a disconnect between OSS use and its effective management. In order to ensure that OSS is used in a way which complies with relevant licence requirements and reduces risk (for example, of adverse action from the OSS community and IP leakage through unintended application of the ‘copyleft’ terms of the GPL2); organisations should consider putting in place an effective OSS governance mechanism. OSS governance should take account of the people context, seeking to get buy-in from all stakeholder groups inside and outside the organisation. The high-level OSS strategy should then be agreed between the stakeholders, consistently with other statements of operational strategy. The next level down is the OSS policy statement, which should be clear, brief, event-driven, able to settle 80% of OSS decisions arising day to day and set out what information is to be collected and tracked. Finally, appropriate processes should be put in place to take the strain of OSS governance. Organisations should consider appointing an Open Source Compliance Officer and acquiring a software based indicator tool enabling a number of key governance processes (code review, setting agreed ‘do's and dont's’) to be automated.     

先行先试视野下福建涉台地方立法研究

福建涉台地方立法已经走过了30年的历程,积累了一些很好的经验,对于促进闽台关系发展乃至推动两岸合作都做出了重大贡献,但仍然存在诸多不足,新形势下必须加强福建涉台地方立法。《国务院关于支持福建省加快建设海峡西岸经济区的若干意见》明确赋予福建先行先试权,要求福建“健全涉台法律法规”。今后福建应按照先行先试的要求,充分利用涉台地方立法空间,继续深化、完善经济领域方面的立法,充实、加强社会领域方面的立法,探索、创制文化领域方面的立法,落实、实现政治领域方面的立法,进一步加强闽台两地人员往来方面的立法,适时启动闽台关系综合性立法。     

论经济危机下竞争政策和产业政策的协调——兼评我国十大产业调整和振兴规划

2008年8月,《中华人民共和国反垄断法》（以下简称“反垄断法”）开始实施,我国竞争法体系初步形成,此时正是竞争政策发展的重要时机。经济危机全面爆发后,我国先是宣布四万亿救市计划,又先后颁布了各重点产业振兴规划。竞争政策与产业政策如何协调本就是一热点话题,如今在经济危机的背景之下,更是难以作出决断。竞争政策与产业政策既存在共同的最终价值目标,相互影响,又存在不同的具体目标和作用机制。以美国和日本在经济危机时的对策为借鉴,我国目前应实施积极的产业政策,竞争政策应适当放松,但其优先地位不可动摇。     

“满铁”对华经济掠夺问题新探

南满洲铁道株式会社对中国的经济掠夺,是以股份公司的形式作为伪装,执行日本帝国主义侵略掠夺中国的对外政策。＂满铁＂依靠特权建立起一个超乎中国主权和法律之上的＂满铁王国＂,构成了日本国家资本为主导,日本产业托拉斯和中小私人资本为辅助的经济体系。＂满铁＂通过这套经济体系,利用显性和隐性两种方式对我国进行经济掠夺、政治扩张、文化渗透,对中国的经济结构和民族工业造成了异常严重的破坏。     

Global diffusion,policy flexibility,and inflation targeting

ABSTRACT

A diverse group of over 30 countries located all over the world—such as the UK, Colombia, and Ghana—introduced inflation targeting, which is a monetary policy that seeks to control inflation through a pre-announced target. Fully institutionalized democracies adopted the policy first because the core features of inflation targeting are consistent with the principles of a liberal democracy. But why was inflation targeting also introduced by less-democratic countries? This article develops the argument that decision makers of less-democratic countries became more likely to adopt inflation targeting when they observed that nearby countries increased the flexibility of the policy. The statistical analysis of data from 76 countries between 1989 and 2013 supports this hypothesis. The finding that the change of a policy toward a more flexible framework drives its global spread addresses a blind spot in the more recent policy diffusion literature.     

Efficacy of Think Tanks in Influencing Public Policies: The Case of Bangladesh

Abstract

This article analyzes contextual and organizational challenges and constraints faced by think tanks in Bangladesh. It argues that while think tanks have been visible in the policy discourse through fostering policy debates and advocating policy proposals, their direct impact on policy outcomes remains limited. Think tanks’ research findings are often interpreted through the prism of politics. A number of think tanks are institutionally weak and face challenges in funding, attracting researchers, and retaining research focus. Think tanks can potentially focus attention to the wider policy community, and emphasize intermediate influences, such as, building capacity, wider networking and interacting with a broader base of policy-makers, in order to be effective and relevant in the policy discussions.     

Continuing Revolt of the Urban Chinese Voters: The Case of Kepong

Abstract

Since the 2008 Malaysian general election the Chinese vote has swung overwhelmingly to the opposition, and this trend has continued in the 2013 general election. When announcing the results of the 2013 general election, Prime Minister Najib labelled it as a ‘Chinese tsunami’. Taking the case of Kepong, this article attempts to explain the reasons for the urban Chinese voters’ continuing support for the Democratic Action Party.     

South African–Swaziland relations: A constructivist reading

There are several accounts of the past relations between Swaziland and South Africa. Some are set in the realist school of international relations scholarship. These studies portray Swaziland's policy behaviour as ‘submissive’ because of ‘immutable structural forces’. The neo-Marxian analyses locate the relations exclusively in class/ideological setting. Other accounts depict the ‘kaleidoscopic’ nature of the relations. The post-apartheid understanding of this relationship is largely gleaned from regional studies – the dominant view of which is that South Africa is reluctant to exercise hegemony in its relations with regional states. This article critiques the one-directional thrust of the realist and Marxian accounts. While endorsing multidirectional and multidimensional accounts of policy behaviour, the article shows that they lack an over-arching theoretical framework. A similar charge is directed at the post-apartheid literature. The position of this article is that constructivism offers analytical tools needed to understand the relations between the two states and how South Africa can reorder them.     

领事保护与外交保护的“融合”与判别

无论是在理论上还是在实践中,领事保护和外交保护都是一个较难明确区分的问题。“是否用尽当地救济”是区分二者的关键标准。然而,很多混淆的产生是与国家责任条款的变化、对国家责任的产生存在误解,以及对外交保护的实体权利和程序条件不分有关。由于国家责任条款和外交保护条款的双重影响,传统领事保护与外交保护当中,出现了部分交融的趋势。这种融合,实际上就是部分外交保护转化为领事保护,这就扩展了领事保护的范围,提升了领事保护的程度,使得海外公民的权利更能得到及时的保护和补救。     

伊拉克外交政策中的认同因素探析

认同是国家利益的来源,从两个途径制约着国家的外交政策。以阿拉伯认同对伊拉克外交政策塑造为主线,伊拉克外交可以分为前萨达姆时期、萨达姆时期与后萨达姆时期三个阶段,在此三个阶段中,库尔德民族认同、伊斯兰宗教认同、逊尼派和什叶派的宗派认同对外交政策的影响力也同时存在。伊拉克国家认同缺失正是其外交政策导向多变的原因,重新构建强大的国家认同,在国家认同指导下展开自主的外交交往,是伊拉克消除内乱、提高国际信用度的可取出路。