Can the Welfare State as We Know It Survive? A View from the Crisis-Ridden South European Periphery

South European countries have been hit hardest and longest by the post-2008 economic crisis. This has brought their welfare states under acute strain. Unmet need has sharply increased while significant welfare reforms and (more or less) deep cuts and changes in social spending have been prominent in the repertoire of the crisis management solutions implemented by the governments (under European Union constraints and the strict rescue-deal requirements for Greece and Portugal). This introduction briefly reviews reform trends prior to and during the crisis in order to highlight convergent and divergent paths among the four countries and outline the major questions addressed by the contributions to this volume.     

Representation and Austerity Politics: Attitudes of Greek Voters and Elites Compared

Drawing on surveys of voters and MPs in Greece, this article analyses elite–mass interaction on key policy (austerity, European integration, immigration) and ideological issues after the 2012 elections. We find that while for the government parties, New Democracy and PASOK, the level of congruence is quite high, MPs from opposition parties (SYRIZA, Golden Dawn) place themselves in more exposed positions in comparison with their voters. The observed substantial variation in the intensity and direction of congruence, across parties and issue preferences in Greece, reinforces the view that the dimensionality of political contestation is not reducible to a single ideological dimension.     

Conceptualising components,conditions and trajectories of food sovereignty’s ‘sovereignty’

This paper addresses the ambiguity of the term ‘sovereignty’ in food sovereignty (FS), intending to clarify the ‘aspirational sovereignty’ that food sovereignty movements indicate as the ideal configuration of power that would allow FS to flourish, or which might help measure movement towards FS. Since aspirational sovereignty is conditioned by existing power relations, the paper elaborates components of ‘actually existing sovereignty’, based on readings of a variety of political and social science literatures. By critically assessing the difference between actually existing and aspirational sovereignty across three geographic–political levels, the paper offers strategic options for constructing FS, and suggests what such an elaborated definition of FS’s sovereignty might offer future research on FS.     

公共政策的缺失与当前世界性经济危机

以次贷危机为导火索、进而席卷全球的金融海啸,正方兴未艾,引发了世界性的经济危机,各国政府努力救市.媒体和学术界开始从各个角度分析危机的原因所在.列举出来的原因有:市场和公众投资信心降低、克林顿政府的房贷政策、在政府政策压力下从格林斯潘开始的长期的低利率低通胀政策、华尔街的贪婪等等.虽然这些都可以算是原因,但在它们的后面其实有着人们不愿探究的更深层次的原因,包括:多年来美国政府改革路线的失衡、现代资本主义金融体系包括市场经济本身的内生性制度缺陷、深藏于现代西方政治文化与社会治理结构中的脆弱因素、资本主义特质在现代技术条件下对社会提出的新挑战、缺失的公共利益文化等等.重点对后面的几个原因进行阐述和讨论,提请学术界对全球化条件下处于不同发展阶段的国家在自己的公共政策和政府治理改革问题上做更深层次的思考和探索.     

第二次柏林危机与冷战时期德国的外交政策

第二次柏林危机期间,美国试图牺牲联邦德国利益与苏联达成妥协,动摇了联邦德国对于它的西方最强大盟友的信心,迫使联邦德国重新审视其依靠西方实力促进德国重新统一的政策,着手改善与东方之间的关系。对美国的失望,坚定了联邦德国走德法合作道路的决心,促使联邦德国更加密切与法国的关系。从这个意义上来说,第二次柏林危机对联邦德国的外交政策影响深远。     

铁路食品安全风险管理体系构建与实施探讨(综述)

目的:利用风险管理与控制的基本原理,采取风险控制措施,确保铁路食品安全。方法:分析铁路食品安全管理中存在的风险因素,利用风险管理相关方面理论加以控制和消除。结果:通过查找铁路食品安全管理中存在的风险,分别在对内、对外、风险控制体系得出风险点位。结论:在新的形势下摸索出一条适应我国法律又符合自身管理要求的铁路食品安全特色模式,从而来确保铁路食品安全管理。     

当前国际形势及其发展趋势

在＂后金融危机时代＂,世界与地区秩序处于新旧交替之中,复杂性、不确定性与高风险性成为当今国际形势的阶段性主要特征。而发达国家经济困局严重拖累世界经济复苏进程,全球性社会政治抗争风潮迭起加剧各国治理难度,国际战略力量对比新变化催生大国＂竞合＂博弈,传统与非传统安全挑战同步增长恶化国际安全环境,亚太地缘战略格局复杂重组,这是当前国际形势的五大特征。展望2012年,世界经济复苏温和而曲折,＂大选年＂加剧国际政治经济敏感性,西方与新兴大国＂竞合＂关系更趋复杂,社会政治风潮可能向思想与意识形态领域扩散,亚太地缘战略格局重组磨合具有不确定性,各种不稳定因素相互交织、影响全球,国际形势动荡不定。     

互联网大规模灾害响应中的志愿行动网络研究

近年来,基于互联网大规模灾害响应的民间志愿行动网络迅猛发展,成为救灾救援中不可忽视的重要力量。2008—2011年在灾害响应中发展起来的"华夏志愿行动网络"案例研究的基础上,试图探究这类行动网络的结构特征。研究发现网络参与者以相对固定的QQ群界定边界,高效地使用各种网络手段进行沟通和动员,异质化身份和丰富的公益资源使得它们在灾害响应时能快速而有效地协作;网络结构呈现"非层级化"和"去中心化"特点,自组织特征明显;网络的信任结构体现基于平行互动的特殊信任和一般信任所组成信任关系特点,特殊信任所组成核心志愿者网络是中心网络,起到信息沟通、资源共享中间"桥"的作用,彼此间的高联接度容易影响一般信任往特殊信任关系的转化。本文的研究将为互联网志愿行动提供理论指导,有利于政府合理的引导和管理。     

美国食品安全监管的第三方审核机制研究

2010年美国通过了《FDA食品安全现代化法》,对进口食品安全监管首次引入第三方审核制度。这一规定背后反映的是美国在食品供应链全球化之后,传统的监管机制日益不敷现实之需而借鉴私人监管创新的结果。本文梳理了该法规定的第三方审核机制的适用范围和主要制度安排,同时考察了美国食品安全第三方审核机制的实践,深入分析了其存在的问题和面临的挑战。最后,作者探讨了美国这一机制对我国加强食品安全监管可能具有的启示。     

Food-security governance in India and Ethiopia: a comparative analysis

Despite recently legislating the right of all citizens to food security, India continues to suffer high food-insecurity rates. With respect to several measures, food insecurity in India appears to be actually higher than in Ethiopia, a country with only one-fourth of India’s average per-capita income. This article examines comparatively the two countries’ food-security challenges and governance mechanisms and identifies several relevant policy areas for mutual learning – dietary diversity, maternal and infant nutrition, and sanitation as well as food production and programmes’ external oversight. Beyond India and Ethiopia, these findings are pertinent also to other developing countries facing similar food-security challenges, such as Pakistan, Nigeria or Sudan.