In-between liberal authoritarianism and electoral authoritarianism: Hong Kong’s democratization under Chinese sovereignty, 1997–2016

On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the handover, Hong Kong’s transition towards a full democracy remains unsettled. Drawing upon the contemporary theories of hybrid regimes, this article argues that manipulations adopted by electoral authoritarian governments have become increasingly common in Hong Kong today. As Hong Kong’s elections, opposition activities, and media have been increasingly put under electoral authoritarian-style manipulations, the city-state is now situated in the “political grey zone” in-between liberal authoritarianism and electoral authoritarianism and its transition into a full democracy remains nowhere in sight. The case study of Hong Kong will help enrich the existing comparative literature on hybrid regimes by developing a new “in-between category” and offering an interesting case of democratization of sub-national polity.     

When and where do elections matter? A global test of the democratization by elections hypothesis, 1900–2010

Successive multiparty elections in sub-Saharan Africa are associated with incremental democratization. Yet tests in other regions are less than encouraging. Non-significant findings on Latin America and post-communist Eurasia, as well as conceptual criticism regarding the theory’s application in the contemporary Middle East, suggest that this may be a case of African exceptionalism. This article moves these debates forward by posing a comprehensive, global set of tests on the democratizing effect of elections. We seek to establish the scope conditions of the argument geographically, temporally, and substantively. Although we find a correlation between reiterated multiparty elections and improvements in the liberal-democratic components of electoral regimes globally since 1900, the relationship is only substantial in the period since the onset of the third wave of democracy. Experiences with iterated multiparty elections have substantive importance for democratization in sub-Saharan Africa, the post-communist region, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. For the Middle East and North Africa, the relationship is weaker and less robust. Finally, the results suggest that reiterated sequences of multiparty elections are associated with improvements to liberal and deliberative components of democracy more so than egalitarian components.     

Why do authoritarian regimes adopt bicameralism? Cooptation,control, and masking controversial reforms

The adoption of bicameralism in the world is increasingly an authoritarian phenomenon: while the percentage of bicameral democracies is in decline, there has been a steady increase in bicameral non-democracies. What makes non-democracies turn to bicameralism? We argue that bicameralism may serve as a means of post-conflict reconciliation or control of the legislature when the opposition gains seats in the lower chamber. We also propose a novel explanation whereby the introduction of bicameralism helps to mask a set of more controversial constitutional reforms. Drawing on a new dataset on second chambers from 1945 to 2016, we find that bicameralism is more likely to be adopted during years when formal presidential term limits are in place or when leaders are in their last term. This is because bicameralism is often a by-product of broad institutional reform that assists in justifying and legitimating the need for constitutional revision and in masking the extension of presidential term limits. The findings improve our understanding of institutions and institutional origins in dictatorships.     

Subnational political regimes and formal economic regulation: Evidence from Russian regions

The paper contributes to the studies of effects of political regimes on public policies by looking at a previously unexplored aspect of this issue: the propensity of political regimes to create vast and extensive formal regulation. To study this topic, it applies subnational comparative method and uses a dataset of subnational regions of Russia, which provides a unique opportunity for a large-N investigation of the research question because of substantial variation of regional political regimes and regulatory environments and because of availability of a proxy for comparing the use of formal regulation across regions. The paper shows that more competitive regimes are more likely to expand the formal law than less competitive ones; however, the implications of this expansion of formal law for the economy are ambiguous.     

Soft competitive authoritarianism and negative stability in Kosovo: statebuilding from UNMIK to EULEX and beyond

ABSTRACT

After 1999, democratization, normalization and Europeanization were the key processes through which Kosovo’s final political status was expected to take shape. All three processes, however, were guided by the stability paradigm. Though Kosovo cannot be categorized as a typical authoritarian state, its political leaders have openly displayed illiberal tendencies, governing in an unaccountable manner and utilizing public assets for their private gain. In the period from 1999 to 2008, while UNMIK’s approach was based on maintaining stability instead of democratization, a soft competitive authoritarianism began to emerge incrementally. In its first decade of independence, Kosovo’s statehood remained internationally disputed, whereas its governance culture was characterized by a lack of internal accountability, which is a key component of the soft competitive authoritarianism in the country. Thus, the negative trajectory of political developments did not change even after the deployment of EULEX and the 2008 declaration of independence. This article analyses the development of authoritarian and illiberal tendencies in Kosovo and suggests that the democratization and Europeanization discourses served to conceal soft competitive authoritarian practices in Kosovo.     

Planteamiento teórico y evidencia del desplazamiento gradual del Estado autoritario al Estado pragmático en México: la transformación de las élites

Analyses of political change in Mexico since the government shift achieved in July 2000 have been undertaken with a focus on the democratic political transition that led to the so-called alternation, that is, from the stance of a classical approach about State transformations that led from an authoritarian stage to democratization. Analytical approaches in Mexico concerning political change are focused on the undeniable democratic practice at the ballot boxes; however, the outcomes' transparency, the adoption of a new regime, and the procedural condition of the young Mexican democracy make it appropriate to consider this shift from the realist view of the exercise of power and major mechanisms for the establishment of élites' political-governmental decisions. Thus, pragmatism is put forward as an alternative political approach. This article intends to establish that political change in Mexico has gradually changed from its past condition as an authoritarian State to become a pragmatic State, favored by the advent of governmental technocracy, globalization, the market, the us hegemonic ideology, and the obvious involvement of corporate elites contained in State power institutions.     

Analytic authoritarianism and Nigeria

Despite two decades of democratisation and some recent liberalisation in North Africa, dictatorships linger around the world. New research on comparative authoritarianism questions personal rule and studies a range of dependent variables, such as why dictators sometimes provide public goods. This ‘analytic authoritarian’ literature emphasises collective governance and explores the institutional basis of policy control. Nigeria's military regimes between 1966 and 1998 provide examples of how military factions and subnational actors can impose transaction costs on authoritarian policy processes. These alternative centres of policy control limited the ability of dictators to unilaterally advance their policy preferences on questions relating to federalism and transition plans. The article concludes by linking this analysis to Nigeria's lingering legacies of authoritarianism and the institutional basis of its 1999 transition.     

中、日、韩三国产业的互补性与竞争性——基于对外贸易的分析

随着韩国与中国经济的快速发展,中、日、韩三国产业结构与产业发展的差距有所缩小。当前三国之间的国际分工仍留有“雁行模式”的痕迹,制造业在三国均占有主导地位,但制造业内部各部门的发展水平仍有差距,三国在对外贸易中表现出来的产业互补性仍然较强。而另一方面,韩国与中国资本、技术密集型行业的发展对日本形成了竞争,韩国在少数劳动密集型行业同中国也存在竞争,三国产业在原先以互补性为主的基础上出现逐渐增强的竞争趋势。     

日本国有铁路民营化改革的绩效与经验

二战后,日本国有铁路公社在促进日本经济发展、改善国民生活水平、加速地区发展等方面发挥了重要作用。本文在分析日本国有铁路公社民营化改革的过程和绩效的基础上,总结了日本国铁改革中值得我国借鉴的几点经验,如以法律为基础、引入竞争机制、兼顾效率与公平等。     

己烯雌酚单克隆抗体细胞株的筛选及间接ELISA法的建立

以自行合成的己烯雌酚 (DES)免疫原免疫BALB/c小鼠 ,采用细胞融合、显微克隆等单克隆抗体技术 ,制备了 5株抗DES单克隆抗体分泌杂交瘤细胞株 (7B6、4B10、1G10、4E4、2C7) ;选择其中的 7B6株抗体 ,建立了间接竞争ELISA法 (indirectcompetitiveinhibitionELISA) ,通过初步优化 ,其检测限为 10 pg/孔 ,与同类二苯乙烯类雌激素的交叉反应高 ,而与天然雌激素雌二醇几乎无交叉反应性。这项研究为DES残留检测试剂盒的开发打下了基础。