United in diversity? The convergence of cultural values among EU member states and candidates

The European Union (EU) is considered to be a unique economic and political union that integrates most European countries. This article focuses on the cultural aspect of European integration, which has been increasingly debated over the course of deepening and widening integration and in the context of the legitimation crisis of the EU. Among the main goals of the EU is to promote certain values, which raises the question of whether it has been efficient in (or enabled) reducing cultural value gaps among the participating countries. World polity and institutional isomorphism theories suggest that cultural values may trickle down in a vertical manner from the institutions of the EU to its member states and candidates. Furthermore, hybridisation theory postulates that values diffuse horizontally through intensified interactions enabled by the EU. These two perspectives imply the possibility of cultural convergence among countries associated with the EU. By contrast, the culture clash thesis assumes that differences in cultural identity prevent value convergence across countries; growing awareness of such differences may even increase the pre-existing cultural value distances. To test these different scenarios, distances in emancipative and secular values are compared across pairs of countries using combined repeated cross-sectional data from the European Values Study and the World Values Survey gathered between 1992 and 2011. This study finds that the longer a country has been part of the EU, the more closely its values approximate those of the EU founding countries, which in turn are the most homogenous. Initial cultural distance to the founders’ average values appears irrelevant to acquiring membership or candidacy status. However, new member states experienced substantial cultural convergence with old member states after 1992, as did current candidates between 2001 and 2008. Since 1992, nations not participating in the integration process have diverged substantially from EU members, essentially leading to cultural polarisation in Europe. The findings are independent of (changes in) economic disparities and suggest the importance of cultural diffusion as one of the fundamental mechanisms of cultural change. This empirical study contributes to the literature on European integration, political and sociological theories of globalisation, and cross-cultural theories of societal value change.     

Why is there no securitisation theory in the Korean nuclear crisis?

Despite the fact that the Korean nuclear crisis is one of the most protracted security issues in the world, the research analysing the crisis from the perspective of securitisation theory is curiously absent. This article attempts to pin down some distinguishing features of South Korea’s securitisation of the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, thereby investigating why one rarely sees the implications of securitisation theory in the way that the Copenhagen School theorists would suggest. Borrowing the key components of securitisation theory—existential threats, referent objects and extraordinary measures—this article suggests three elusive characteristics of the South Korean actors’ speech acts as sources highlighting the dilemma. To make the article’s arguments clearer, I hold Floyd’s classification of securitisation theory, which separated the securitisation process into two different stages: securitising move and security practice. While acknowledging the importance of the differences between illocution and perlocution in a securitisation process, this article takes this logic one step further by suggesting the limits of the perlocutionary effect in making the securitisation process complete.     

民法诚信原则与劳动法适用之博弈论纲——以“奋斗者协议”和“自愿弃保”为例

"奋斗者协议"与"自愿弃保"案件背后隐含的法理可简概为民法诚信原则与劳动法适用问题。实践中的误读和误判、《民法典》缺失劳动权(益)之基本民事权利设置、共享经济下新型劳动用工和疫情与后疫情时代之多重叠加效应,导致了劳动法之"衰"与"殇"。民法诚信原则同样适用劳动法含社会保障法,所谓劳动法不能适用该原则或者民法思维模式都是不严谨之"伪"命题。劳动法适用诚信原则应当考量其特殊性,惩戒权适用时,应当遵循比例原则和有利原则,并不得涉及劳动者非职业行为即私人行为和排除社会保障权。任何排除或剥夺劳动者社会保障权的约定或规章都是无效的。后劳动合同义务适用诚信原则不能"选择性""遗漏"抗辩权,如果当事人依法行使抗辩权,则不能裁定其违反了诚信原则,否则就是"伪"民法思维模式。实习关系属于特殊的劳动关系,在实习法律规范严重缺失下,用具有弥补法律不足之价值与功能的诚信原则治理"虚假实习"完全必要而且可行。     

论农民权利倾斜性保护的价值目标

长期以来,农民群体由于自身的社会地位与社会制度等客观因素导致其在政治、经济、文化、社会等方面的正当权利得不到有效保护。以社会公平正义为价值依归的"弱有所扶"、相对贫困治理、实现全民共同富裕等时代要求,为农民权利倾斜性保护制度安排提供了正当性依据与价值基础。要实现真正意义上的农民权利倾斜性保护,必须坚持农民主体的权利地位、改变农民主体的弱势地位、维护农民主体的职业地位等基本价值定位;必须切实实现保护农民政治民主权利、土地经营权利、社会保障权利的价值承诺。惟此,才能逐步实现城乡居民权利的均等化,从而真正达到对农民权利进行倾斜性保护的目的。     

违约金调减的证明责任问题

在对《民法典》第585条第2款后段的解读中,应将"违约金过分高于损失"理解为违约金调减请求的权利成立要件,将法官自由裁量权的行使理解为权利成立的法律后果。这一区分对应了违约金的双重功能,可为违约金调减请求提供更清晰的审理思路。成立要件的审理对应违约金的补偿性功能,适用诉讼法理;调减衡量因素的审理对应违约金的履约压力功能,部分适用非讼法理。根据现行法,"违约金过分高于损失"的证明责任应由违约方承担,且不能转移。违约方的证明困难属于法官自由心证的范畴,在具体诉讼中可以通过事案解明义务缓解,但不改变证明责任、证明标准以及由此决定的本证与反证的区分。违约金调减衡量因素的调查不存在证明责任问题,应围绕法官自由裁量权的行使,在诉讼法理与非讼法理的交错适用中展开。     

历史演进视角下的欧盟与北约关系走向——兼析拜登当选的影响

自欧盟确立共同安全与防务政策以来,欧盟独立防务与北约之间存在着“相互替代”和“相互增强”两种论调。争论焦点在于价值观念、威胁评估和战略文化、军事和民事能力、国防工业和支出。在过去几年,欧盟与北约的关系也围绕上述四个方面发生变化。具体而言,欧盟与北约之间总体上呈现以合作为主、竞争为辅、两者同步增强的发展态势。美国新任总统拜登承诺修复美国与盟友的关系,包括进一步加强北约。同时,美、欧将在价值观念上回归“旧常态”,在威胁评估和战略文化上进一步靠拢,在民事和军事手段的运用以及增加国防工业投入上也会有更多共识和共同行动。因此,欧盟与北约的关系将进一步呈现相互增强的态势,但前提是欧盟的战略自主建设不只是出于做强自身,而是更多地为了使欧、美双方公平承担相应的责任。     

Testing the antecedents to e-democracy towards citizens’ happiness: a structural equation modelling approach to ‘MyGov’ initiative,India

ABSTRACT

“MyGov” is an ambitious ICT-based platform of the government of India, where citizens contribute to policy making by engaged in various ways. As the initiative is about to complete 5 years, the research is focused on to test the antecedents to e-democracy and citizens’ happiness by a structural equation modeling on responses from 413 users of “MyGov” platform. The empirical outcomes established the predictive role of transparency and value expectancy on e-democracy in addition to the impact of trust and e-democracy on citizens’ happiness. The study also supported the positive association between transparency and trust.     

关于目前我国货币政策的若干问题

从政策目标的角度而言 ,我国相对积极的货币政策在防范金融风险 ,提高金融资产质量方面起到了一定作用 ;从货币政策作用的时滞性的角度看 ,我国目前实施的相对积极的货币政策和其他宏观经济政策的效应正在逐渐凸现 ,中国经济已陷入凯恩斯流动性陷阱的认识是极为片面的。为确保我国宏观经济的持续增长 ,3% - 6%的温和的通货膨胀政策 ,应是我国中长期宏观经济操作的主要目标和基本归宿。当前 ,进一步健全货币政策的传导机制已成为我国金融工作的主要任务之一。     

从苏联解体看和谐社会的目标指向

苏联解体时人类历史发展进程尤其对国际共产主义运动影响深远。对相关问题的研究，尤其是对苏联解体原因、经验教训的分析与反思，无疑对我国社会主义和谐社会的建设具有重要借鉴意义。     

我国人民调解协议司法确认制度的考察

从人民调解协议的效力方面看,我国人民调解协议司法确认制度的源流体现在主要依靠当事人自觉履行的人民调解协议、具有"民事合同"性质的人民调解协议、部分人民调解协议具有"法律约束力"的探索、人民调解协议司法确认制度的立法确立等。我国人民调解协议司法确认制度的现行规定及其适用存在不少问题,需要从增加申请人民调解协议司法确认的主体、理顺关于人民调解协议司法确认管辖法院的规定、确定人民调解协议的司法审查方式、明确人民调解协议司法确认后的法律后果等方面继续完善我国人民调解协议司法确认制度。