Culture,integration and African Renaissance

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role of language in negotiating power between Sudanese Arabists and Sudanese Africanists from a critical discourse analysis perspective (henceforth CDA). The aim is to demonstrate how extreme political discourse can jeopardise national unity. The article begins by summarising the basic tenets of the CDA theory and proceeds to examine Sudanese power-related discourse. Particularly, the article assumes both top-down and bottom-up approaches to analyse the discourses corresponding to the two groups, Sudanese Arabists and Sudanese Africanists. The top-down approach examines the discourse of the ruling Arab elites who have exclusive access to institutional discourse and communication. By contrast, although the Sudanese Africanist discourse was once considered illegal and could not be conveyed through public channels, in more modern times it has found the Internet, television and radio (among others) as avenues for dissemination. A number of socio-political groups, generally referred to as marginalised affiliations, are now initiating resistance discourse (henceforth RD) which goes hand in hand with their armed struggle against the ruling elites.     

If at first you don't succeed

Political and social stability in advanced capitalist societies is threatened both by the impossibility of achieving full employment owing to automation and the transformation of family life and gender relationships. This article explores explanations of these shifts in Jeremy Rifkin's and Ray Pahl's work. It explores alternative models of employment in which formal work is shared and third-sector work is expanded, underwritten by a cultural shift in which work, success and consumption are traded for free time, balance and self-development.     

Structural Models of Voter Behavior in the 2000 Polish Presidential Election

Abstract

The data of the 2000 Polish presidential election have been analyzed according to Newman and Sheth's model of voter's choice behavior (1985). Although this model was originally interpreted within the statistical perspective of discriminant analysis, it could be also extended within the framework of structural equation methodology. Namely, if the seven cognitive domains (Issues and Policies, Emotional Feelings, Candidate Image, Current Events, Epistemic Issues, Social Imagery and Epistemic Issues) are assumed to be distinct and separate, they can be treated as independent (predictive) variables with the voter's intention as a dependent or predicted variable. The three models were tested and the resuits of path analysis show the complex pattern of mutual interdependence between the cognitive domains and voter behavior. The specificity of the cause-effect relationship obtained by the structural equation methodology presented in the paper allows us to put forward some practical suggestions regarding the way electoral campaigns should be conducted.     

Models of Voter Behavior in Traditional and Evolving Democracies

ABSTRACT

The data of Polish, Slovenian, and U.S. political elections have been analyzed according to Newman's model of voter's choice behavior (Newman & Sheth 1985; Newman 1999). The results of the research were interpreted with the methodology of structural equations, where cognitive domains, the media, and the emotional feelings toward the candidates were variables in mutual cause-and-effect relationships. The results of the analyses demonstrated the differences in the importance of the media for the election process. In established democracies like in the U.S. the media play an important role as independent means of delivering information, while in evolving democracies media are not independent and are oftentimes used by the competing political sides as an element in electoral battles. The article also presents proposals for studying voter behaviors within constructivist and realistic paradigms as well as some suggestions for marketing practice.     

Fake and Dishonest: Pathologies of Differentiation of the Civil and the Political Sphere in Hungary

ABSTRACT

Almost 25 years has passed since transition, and Hungarian democracy is in a deplorable state. Party politics pervades every aspect of political life, undermining the autonomy of civil actors, treating them as a potential ‘fan club’ of parties rather than cooperating and consultative partners. In order to capture what went wrong in Hungarian civil society, we propose a structural analysis that highlights pathologies of the differentiation between the political and civil spheres. We elucidate how the political sphere usurps the autonomy of the civil sphere; thereby not only does it undermine trust in civil actors, but also undercuts their capacity to perform their control function over the political sphere. In the analysis, we concentrate on what we identify as the ‘fake-civil/pseudo-civil’ phenomenon and related discourses, relying on the conceptual and theoretical apparatus developed by Arato and Cohen.     

论民进党之危机

民进党甫一执政,即陷入困局。民进党之危机乃是全面性、结构性之危机。危机非仅表现在贪渎弊案丛生,尤其因意识形态挂帅导致执政无能,其结果,台湾发展实际的需要与民进党维持政权选举的需要,构成了民进党执政无法调和的矛盾。台湾社会蓝绿对抗的选民结构,国民党的软弱无能和外部美日的支持,维持了民进党的生存空间,但也制约着民进党难以反省,因而看不出民进党有能力解决危机。民进党倘走向更加激进的“台独”方向,路必将愈走愈窄。     

关于推进法律语言学深入发展的思考

近些年来,我国的法律语言学得到了迅速发展,学科地位已经确立,但还存在诸多不足.当前,尤其需要引起注意并努力加以解决的是学科自身建设问题,即学科基本理论的深入研究和学科体系的健全和完善.     

电子计算机是现代语言学发展的杠杆

半个世纪以来，计算机科学与现代语言学携手同行。语言学在与电脑的互动中不仅诞生了其与数学交叉的分支－数理语言学，而且语言学自身各种流派的发展更加形式化、精密化和具操作性，即更贴近电脑的性能。电脑成为现代语言学发展的杠杆。另一方面，语言学又是电脑智能化发展的前提。目前的情况是，语言学的发展还不能满足电脑智能化发展的需求。     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Case Complexity, Guilty Pleas, and Offender Characteristics on Sentencing for Offenders Convicted of a White-Collar Offense Prior to Sentencing Guidelines

Previous research on the punishment of offenders convicted of a white-collar offense estimated models that specify only direct effects of defendant characteristics, offense-related variables, and guilty pleas on sentence severity. Drawing from conflict or labeling theories, much of this research focused on the effects of offender's socioeconomic status on sentence outcomes. Findings from this research are inconsistent about the relationship between defendant characteristics and sentence severity. These studies overlook how differences in case complexity of white-collar offense and guilty pleas may intervene in the relationship between offender characteristics and sentence outcomes. This study seeks to contribute to an understanding of federal sentencing prior to the federal sentencing guidelines by testing a legal-bureaucratic theory of sentencing that hypothesizes an interplay between case complexity, guilty pleas and length of imprisonment. This interplay reflects the interface between the legal ramifications of pleading guilty, prosecutorial interests in efficiency and finality of case disposition in complex white-collar cases, and sentence severity. Using structural equation modeling, a four-equation model of sentencing that specifies case complexity and guilty pleas as intervening variables in the relationship between offender characteristics and length of imprisonment is estimated. Several findings are noteworthy. First, the hypothesized interplay between case complexity, guilty pleas, and sentence severity is supported. Second, the effect of offender's educational attainment on sentence severity is indirect via case complexity and guilty pleas. Third, offender's race and gender effect length of imprisonment both directly and indirectly through the intervening effect of case complexity and guilty pleas. These findings indicate the need to specify sentencing models that consider the direct and indirect effects of offender characteristics, offense characteristics, and guilty pleas on judicial discretion at sentencing.     

深化行政体制改革 落实依法治国基本方略

不依法行政,危害巨大。从"进一步完善行政执法体制,夯实执政基础;进一步转变执法理念,加强执法队伍监管;进一步完善行政执法程序,保护公民的正当权利;进一步创新执法方式,保证执法效果"等方面,自觉堵塞制度漏洞,深化体制改革,全面落实依法治国基本方略。