Economic strain and perceptions of social cohesion in Europe: Does institutional trust matter?

The degree to which different social groups get along is a key indicator of the cohesiveness of a society. This study examines perceptions of social cohesion among Europeans and explains variations in those perceptions by considering the separate and combined effects of economic strain and institutional trust. Analyses were conducted with the 27 member countries of the EU based on the Eurobarometer 74.1 on poverty and social exclusion conducted in 2010. Results show that individuals living in households experiencing economic strain perceive social cohesion to be weaker than their less economically hard‐pressed counterparts. By contrast, individuals trusting their political institutions perceived there to be higher levels of cohesion. Furthermore, institutional trust substantially moderates the negative relationship between economic strain and perceptions of cohesion. These results are robust to various model specifications. Moreover, extending the analysis revealed that this moderating effect held when considering social relations between the poor and rich and between different racial and ethnic groups. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

The Relationship Between High Education and Labor Market in Western Balkan Countries

This paper deals with the relationship between high education and labor market in Western Balkan countries. Having in mind that all these countries are in transitional process, suffering from poor economics, poor level of investments, and high unemployment rates, it would be wise that the governments and political elites put the quality of knowledge high on agenda, regarding it as the vital incentive instrument for economic and social development. All social and political subjects should be devoted to procuring good quality of knowledge, which is sensitive to the labor market＇s needs in all fields. This study attempts to find answer on the question why it is not so, making qualitative, quantitative, and empirical research. It analyzes the relationship between high education and labor market＇s needs, identifies main factors which influence this relationship, focusing on main influence of political interests and values. The paper presents rare good cases, as lessons from experience for the future.     

西方宪法文化对我国的影响与启示简

在宪法和制度的意义上,我国似乎自古以来就缺乏建立和完善制度的能力.在宪法文化中,能力及力量的不平衡是权力作为解决冲突方式的前提与基础.而平等是制度运作的基本前提.西方宪法文化对我国宪法文化建设很有启发,向我们指明了制度经常是利益斗争和调和的产物,其产生需要建立在一定基本共识和共同观念之上,制度对宪法文化也有相应的反作用.因此,我们可以从宪法实施入手,并加强对宪法文化权利的保护宣扬我国宪法文化.     

Civil society

The idea of civil society has proved very elusive, escaping conceptual grasps and evading sure-footed negotiation of the concept itself. Resurrected in a very definite historical setting, that of authoritarian states, the concept of civil society came to signify a set of social and political practices that sought to engage with state power. The close connection with the re-emergence of the concept and the collapse of dictatorial states made civil society attractive to a variety of political agents pursuing different agendas: expanding the market at the expense of the state, transiting from mass politics to single-issue and localised campaigns, undermining confidence in accepted modes of representation such as political parties, and in general shrinking the domain of the state and that of accepted modes of politics. That the concept of civil society could suit such a variety of different political projects is cause for some alarm, for it might well mean that civil society has come to mean everything to everyone remotely interested in it.     

Committee strength in parliamentary democracies: A new index

Much recent research on coalitions and policy-making in parliamentary democracies requires high-quality data on the strength of legislative institutions. In this article, I introduce a new index of committee policing strength which improves on existing measures in important ways. I specify key index parameters using a binary rooted tree model and engage human coders to score formal rules. I obtain a novel time series of committee policing strength in 17 western and eastern European democracies since 1945. I validate the new estimates through convergent validation and discuss ways in which the new index contributes to future work.     

Online protection of the child within Europe

This article discusses the online protection available to children and young people within Europe. Children and young people are significant users of information technology and they must be able and comfortable to safely use this technology. The European Union and the Council of Europe have been at the vanguard of attempts to regulate the information society in order to protect young netizens.     

毛泽东的中西文化比较观

本文对毛泽东的中西文化比较观的探讨,从三个层面展开.首先阐述毛泽东的中西文化比较研究重在揭示古今之异,亦即把握封建文化与资本主义文化的对立;其次通过对毛泽东早年有关论述的具体分析,以说明毛泽东的中西文化的比较研究尤其关注中西文化在道德方面的差异,借以强调中国文化为伦理形态的文化,不重视知识论意义上的文化,只重视道德文化;再次阐述毛泽东的中西文化比较研究不是一种纯理论的探索,而是为了提倡向西方学习.     

冷战后美欧的对华政策

冷战后美国和欧盟的对华政策明显地拉开了距离 ,他们的对华政策的调整变化是由各自所处的国际环境、经济利益和战略利益所决定的 ,它对美中关系、欧中关系的发展产生了重要的影响。     

Women’s Right to Asylum: Protecting the Rights of Female Asylum Seekers in Europe?

Criticisms have been made against international laws and conventions on asylum and refugees, arguing that these have been based on a male model of definition, which have ignored women’s persecutions. This article will argue that recent developments in European asylum policy have the potential to deepen this discrimination and to further reduce the rights of female asylum seekers. Although there have been some positive developments in jurisprudence that have recognised that gender-specific persecution may be the basis for granting asylum, these advances remain relatively sporadic and are undermined by the operation of random and discretionary exercises of power by bureaucrats and decision makers in many cases. Further, although new developments in asylum policy are in theory “gender neutral,” differences in the material circumstances of men and women who arrive to seek asylum may mean in effect that the implications of these policies are deeply gendered.

针刀骨减压合消痹颗粒治疗膝关节骨性关节炎46例

目的 观察针刀骨减压联合中药内服治疗膝关节骨性关节炎的临床疗效。方法 将92例膝关节骨性关节炎患者随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组各46例,治疗组予以骨减压联合消痹颗粒内服,对照组予以关节腔注射玻璃酸钠注射液。治疗5周后,观察并比较两组的临床疗效,并采用膝关节骨性关节炎症状分级量化评分、西安大略和麦克马斯特大学骨性关节炎指数（Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index,WOMAC）和简式McGill疼痛问卷（short-form McGill pain questionnaire, SF-MPQ）评价两组的疗效。结果 治疗组总体临床疗效显著优于对照组(P＜0.05),治疗组在降低膝关节骨性关节炎症状评分、WOMAC评分和SF-MPQ各维度评分方面显著优于对照组(P＜0.05,或P＜0.01)。结论 针刀骨减压联合中药内服治疗膝关节骨性关节炎疗效显著,可改善症状、减轻疼痛、提高患者生活质量。