Framing Andijon,narrating the nation: Islam Karimov's account of the events of 13 May 2005

Tashkent's handling of anti-government protests and violence in the city of Andijon on 13 May 2005 has generated enormous controversy and had significant political repercussions. However, there has been no detailed analysis of rival interpretations of what happened. This paper begins to redress this lacuna by analysing a book on the subject authored by the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Using framing theory, it identifies four key themes deployed in the narrative to delegitimize the government's opponents: terrorism and criminality; inauthentic Uzbekness and deviant masculinity/religiosity; constitutional illegitimacy; and the subversion of the scientific laws of states. Significantly for an understanding of regime legitimization and nationalism in Uzbekistan, no recourse is made to the government's intellectual framework known as the ‘ideology of national independence’. The paper points to the need for further research to enable scholars to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the contemporary politicization of national belonging in independent Uzbekistan.     

发达国家青年失业群体治理措施及借鉴

近几年来,青年是面临失业的主要群体,这一问题引起了学术界特别是青年研究界越来越多的关注。青年群体有别于传统失业群体,有着自身的特点。发达国家之所以能够较为有效地控制青年失业率,主要是因为实施了积极的就业保障措施来促进青年就业。借鉴国外的经验,我国解决青年群体就业问题的政策取向必须以提高就业能力为出发点。     

呼之欲出的社会公益募捐法

5．12汶川地震之后,全国各界展开了对地震灾区的援助,除了直接赶赴灾区进行救灾援助之外,捐赠或者募捐成为很长一段时间内人们对地震灾区主要的援助手段。基于我国现阶段对于捐赠与募捐的立法现状,其中有诸多的不规范之处,而募捐过程中也产生了诸多问题。这些问题如果在短时间内得不到解决,一方面,会影响到灾区所可能接收到的外在援助,另一方面,也会由于募捐本身的不规范导致捐赠者的失望可能影响到全社会的利他主义与人道主义信念的下滑,这对于现阶段和谐社会的建构是至关重要的。本文将就募捐的法律性质、募捐的现有规范及募捐现存的问题作一初步探讨,以期对我国募捐法案的出台有所裨益。     

我国环境税法律制度研究

环境税是解决环境问题的一种重要的经济手段。我国现行环境税费制度存在诸多弊端,未体现资源环境的稀缺性和价值性,难以达到预防污染、保护资源的目的。为有效发挥环境税的调节作用,需要以生态理念为基础,体现可持续发展的思想,以环境友好的方式来设计我国的环境税法律制度,依法确定环境税税种、税率、纳税人、征收征管规程和优惠政策等。     

Supports for Families Affected by Substance Abuse

Using an in-home services program model, Project Connect works collaboratively with the child welfare system, substance abuse treatment providers, the courts, and other community agencies to support parental recovery, enhance safety and permanency, and strengthen family relationships. Results from the most recent evaluation of the program, which used a dosage level design to examine project outcomes for 415 families, are presented here. Data indicate that the program was particularly helpful in strengthening parenting capacity. Child safety and permanency were also positively correlated with program participation.     

The Rise of the Far Right in Debtor and Creditor European Countries: The Case of European Parliament Elections

While the 2014 European Parliament elections were marked by the rise of parties on the far right‐wing, the different patterns of support that we observe across Europe and across time are not directly related to the economic crisis. Indeed, economic hardship seems neither sufficient nor necessary for the rise of such parties to occur. Using the cross‐national results for the 2004, 2009 and 2014 EP elections in order to capture time and country variations, we posit that the economy affects the rise of far right‐wing parties in more complex ways. Specifically, we compare the experience of high‐debt countries (the ‘debtors’) and the others (the ‘creditors’) and explore the relationship between far right‐wing party success on the one hand, and unemployment, inequality, immigration, globalisation and the welfare state on the other. Our discussion suggests there might be a trade‐off between budgetary stability and far right‐wing party support, but the choice between Charybdis and Scylla may be avoided if policy‐makers carefully choose which policies should bear the brunt of the fiscal adjustment.     

The Demise of Tax Credits

Introduced in the late 1990s, tax credits grew under successive Labour governments to become a cornerstone of UK social policy. Distinguished from traditional welfare policies by their target group and their mode of administration, and with goals that appeared capable of commanding support across the ideological spectrum, tax credits until recently seemed to hold the key to tackling poverty in a politically popular manner. But since 2010 the tax credit system has been systematically dismantled, initially qualitatively and latterly also quantitatively. This paper discusses the multiple factors that help to explain the rapid fall from grace in the UK of this liberal approach to supporting the incomes of poor working households.     

“Middle-income Trap” Proposition in China: Debate and Rethinking

Most studies suggest that China's economy is gradually moving into the "middle income trap" due to the economic slowdown, the demographic dividend subsiding, economic imbalances and weak manufacturing. But to think about the source of the middle-income trap proposition, there is a big limitation of the scope of its application. There is obvious expansion even "dogmatic" tendency in the understanding of the middle-income trap. Mechanical imitation to guide China's development will inevitably mislead decision-makers in judging the real macroeconomic situation. Middle-income trap hypothesis can be applied to our country? Our government seems to prevent the distribution of income trap and welfare catching-up trap.     

Family Unification Program: Housing Services for Homeless Child Welfare–Involved Families

The Family Unification Program—a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development initiative to facilitate interagency collaboration between the child welfare and public housing service systems—aims to stabilize families at risk for parent–child separation by addressing housing needs. Findings from a randomized controlled trial suggest that families referred to the program experienced lower risk for homelessness and out-of-home placement compared with child welfare services as usual. The findings suggest that housing services offer an effective alternative to foster care.     

Institutional reform and political party engagement: Challenges to democratic transformation in post-CPA Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the role of institutions and political parties as main agents of the democratisation process in the Sudan, following the signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). A review of the historic weaknesses of intermittent democratic rule in the Sudan, since its independence in 1956 and through to the signing of the CPA, is offered. Those elements of the CPA critical to institutional reform and democratisation are identified and their implementation assessed, including the results of the CPA-mandated elections held in April 2010. The four principal political parties and their capacities to contribute to democratic transformation are analysed.