Retrospective and Prospective Performance Assessments during the 2004 Election Campaign: Tests of Mediation and News Media Priming

According to many theoretical accounts of the vote choice, distal determinants (e.g., party identification) influence proximal determinants (e.g., perceptions of candidates), which in turn shape candidate preferences. Yet almost no research on voting has formally tested such mediational hypotheses. Using national survey data collected between February and September of 2004, this paper begins by illustrating how to conduct such investigations. We explored whether public approval of President Bush’s handling of a series of specific national problems (e.g., the Iraq war) influenced overall assessments of his job performance and evaluations of his likely future performance versus John Kerry’s, which in turn shaped vote choices. The results are consistent with the claim of mediation and shed additional light on the impact of various issues on the 2004 election outcome. We also tested what we term the “dosage hypothesis,” derived from news media priming theory, which posits that changes in the amount of media coverage of an issue during the course of a campaign should precipitate changes in the weight citizens place on that issue when evaluating the president’s overall job performance, particularly among citizens most exposed to the news. Surprisingly, this analysis did not yield consistent support for the venerable dosage hypothesis, suggesting that the conditions under which priming occurs should be specified much more precisely in future work.

向共进国际法迈步

国际法在主体、形成、内容以及执行等方面在每一特定时代都展现出一些特定的时代精神:在冷战的顶峰时期,国际法的主题是共处;在缓和时期,是合作;而在后冷战时期的今天,则是共进。"共进"(co-progressiveness)国际法包罗万象,因而是"共同的"(co);在促进道德或伦理进步方面比在其它方面更为专注,而且以人类繁荣为其终极目标,因而是"进步的"(progressiveness)。     

The Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa at 20 years: An impact assessment

Established in 1996, the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa – Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries – set out an ambitious agenda to both protect and promote the Portuguese language worldwide and to pursue a range of multilateral initiatives of importance to its members. Rigorous, independent evaluation of the CPLP‘s role and impact has yet, however, to appear. This study moves some distance towards remedying this gap through evidence-based assessment of the enduring objectives of the organisation. It concludes that, while significant advance has occurred in specific respects, progress has been elusive in others. Moreover, such progress has tended to materially benefit specific members of the coalition somewhat more than others.     

MIKTA--国际社会的新成员

2013年，墨西哥、印度尼西亚、韩国、土耳其和澳大利亚5国成立了MIKTA。经过一年的发展， MIKTA已经成为国际社会中一个新的组织。 MIKTA以非官方和开放的形式，借助5国都是G20成员地位，希望通过G20的国际治理能力，提高其成员国的国际地位，同时也在变化的世界中保持国际体系的稳定和有效。 MIKTA利用外交部长对话机制，致力于国际政治安全事务。 MIKTA 5国有共同愿望、集体实力、良好平台、国际认同等方面的优势，还有各国国内政治和对外战略的支持。因此， MIKTA如果能够处理好与相关国际机制的关系问题，就能够在全球发挥建设性作用。     

A Resilience Approach to Transitional Justice?

ABSTRACT

Transitional justice, which is typically part of a liberal peacebuilding strategy, often seems distant, ineffective or even counter-productive. The concept of resilience, to which transitional justice discourses and scholarship have remained relatively indifferent, appears useful to explore justice initiatives in conflict or post-conflict situations. This article argues that much can be gained from better understanding the relevance of – and significant risks associated with – resilience thinking in this context. Through a critical approach to resilience, and embedded within a legal-pluralist framework, it examines some of the ways of dealing with political violence, with a particular focus on the Central African Republic.     

当前中国富裕阶层的海外移民浅析

新世纪以来,中国富裕阶层和知识精英正成为新一轮移民潮的主力军,越来越多的中国富裕阶层通过投资移民等方式移居海外,且大多前往欧美等西方发达国家。本文基于近年来国内外发布的有关国际移民和中国富裕阶层的相关报告,对当前中国富裕阶层以投资移民为主要方式的海外移民予以关注,着重从移民倾向、资产配置和海外投资等方面进行梳理和分析,并对中国富裕阶层移民海外的趋势和未来影响加以探讨。     

Measurement of Internationalization of “Enterprises+Banks” and Economics Periodicals

In the fifth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, China further emphasized the internationalization of China. Chinese scholars put forward measurement formula for internationalization of the commercial banks based on Measurement formulas for International Enterprises proposed by United Nations, which will solve prevalent international measurement problems both in economic and social aspects through measuring the “enterprise+bank” internationalization. Although there are significant differences between the economics periodicals and the “enterprise+bank”, it can still lead to the international calculation formula for the economic periodicals through the improvement of certain indexes, such as the assets, sales volume and the number of employees.     

Los cuidados de salud para los ancianos. Entre las limitaciones presupuestarias y el derecho a un mínimo existencial

The author contextualizes the effects of the realities of public finances on the (legislative) creation and judicial review of healthcare for the elderly. He establishes the relationship between economic factors and the conflicts arising out the claims and expectations of individuals, on the one hand, and the healthcare provided for by law, the public budget and administrative procedures. The author considers that the lack of financial resources and budgetary resources, while threatening to impose limitations on the judicial protection of such rights, is not necessarily an obstacle to the enforceability of healthcare rights, nor does it prevent the exercise of any other subjective rights created by law. Finally, the author points out the need for a better understanding of the expression an existential minimum (existenzminimum).     

Letter-writing and Transnational Activism on Behalf of Indonesian Political Prisoners: Gatot Lestario and his Legacy

Amnesty International estimated in 1977 that between 600,000 and 750,000 Indonesians had been or were still imprisoned as a result of the Army-led anti-communist violence in Indonesia in the mid-1960s. This article charts the relationship between members of Amnesty International and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) with a political prisoner on death row in East Java, Gatot Lestario, a former leader of the Indonesian Communist Party. This article draws on the letters he wrote over a period of three years before his execution in 1985 and interviews with his pen pals. It traces the ways in which he encouraged his pen pals to advocate for human rights in Indonesia and their responses, as well as his own involvement in political prisoner advocacy. This case study illustrates the disappearance of Indonesia's previously close and solidary relationship with the socialist world and its replacement at the people-to-people level with human rights activism involving Western activists. This is particularly evident in the increasingly important role played by members of Amnesty International, the Quakers and other overseas organizations concerned with Indonesia. Finally, the article assesses Gatot Lestario's impact, after his execution, on the development of a long-term advocacy network for Indonesia's political prisoners.