How is it Possible for Democracies to Effectively Tackle Long-Term Problems?

ABSTRACT

The aim of this essay is to examine if and how it is possible for the political system of democracy to effectively tackle long-term public problems that are wicked in nature, taking climate crisis as an example. It consists of four sections. The first section is devoted to a brief historical overview of the conflict between eco-authoritarianism and ecological democracy. The following section examines if and to what extent “environmental pessimism” – disillusionment with the ability of liberal/capitalist democracies to effectively tackle long-term environmental problems – which has made a remarkable comeback since late 1980s, is empirically grounded, on the basis of performance evaluation of the contracting parties to the Kyoto Protocol (adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005), and the Climate Change Performance Index that evaluates and ranks the climate mitigation performance of 58 countries responsible for over 90 per cent of global energy-related CO₂ emissions, released every year by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe. The third section focuses on more theoretical/normative issues, critically examining the cogency of a claim, made by no small number of environmental pessimists, that democratic institutions, due to their myopic tendencies, usually work systematically to the disadvantage of future generations. The last section is devoted to the examination of measures thus far advocated and partly put into practice for correcting the myopic tendencies of democracy, emphasizing the vital need for non-representative measures, or self-restraint mechanisms built into democracy itself, whose primary function lies in preventing democracy from degenerating due to the influence of the myopic majority, thereby protecting ecological sustainability and the well-being of future generations.     

政府与社会组织关系演进的历史逻辑

从总体性二元合一走向分化性二元合一,解决分化与耦合两个方面的问题,是中国政府与社会组织关系演进的总体态势。运用结构功能主义视角,可以发现,演进历经让渡与承接、规范与依附、激活与协同等阶段,由政府与社会组织的功能性界分,到基于责任结构整合的政会功能黏附,逐渐发展为基于全面结构整合的政会功能分化与耦合。演进的基本逻辑,是政府主导下功能演变与结构调整的互动,即由政府主导的演进轨道、由功能演变与结构调整互动而构成的演进机制。展望未来,分化性二元合一体系的完善,必须按照现代国家治理的要求,在政府与社会组织之间打造共建、共治与共享的结构功能系统,实现基于责任结构契合的功能目标一致、基于权力结构合理的功能形式耦合、基于利益结构规范的功能输出互益。     

On The Trial-centered New Relationship between Prosecutors and Lawyers

The relationship between prosecutors and lawyers is not only an important part of the center of the judicial system, but also the visual expression of modern criminal structures. The Eighth Session of the Fourth Plenary proposed reform to the trial as the center of litigation system, to provide a policy basis on which to build a new relationship between prosecutors and lawyers. In prosecution of criminal proceedings the body performs an important function in the “trial centered” litigation model, how to build the suitable relationships between the prosecutors and lawyers is of great significance for the target to be completed in Litigation Reform.     

实质公平视角下劳方利益倾斜性保护之法律思考

劳资利益的公平分配需要劳资双方相互制衡.劳动力的不可独立性、不可存储性、个体弱势性等特征,使其在与资方谈判中存在先天的弱势性,需要国家给予倾斜性制度保障.但当前我国存在现有制度难以保障劳动者生存需求的矛盾、劳方与资方抗衡的组织需求矛盾、集体谈判制衡性权利缺失矛盾等法律困境.因此,我国需要从劳方生存保障制度之补足、保障劳动者组织的独立性、赋予劳动者组织的制衡性权利等方面给劳方提供倾斜性制度保护,方能实现企业利益中劳资利益分配的实质公平.     

从公安微博发展看构建和谐警民关系若干误区和出路

与传统的沟通方式相比,微博的网络特质内在地与现代警务需求在公开性、时效性、传播性、语言风格等方面高度契合。看似公安微博建设的问题,实质上反映出公安机关在构建和谐警民关系上的某些误区。公安微博的建设发展,必须珍惜和总结既往的经验和教训,顺应民意要求,始终与和谐警民关系建设精神内核与价值追求相统一。     

当前国际投资促进机构运行的特征与走势

后金融危机时代,各国为从金融危机中尽快复苏经济普遍加强了投资促进工作,国际投资促进机构运行呈现新特征。通过深入研究新特征,密切关注其走势及采取的积极应对措施。为进一步理顺我国投资促进体制机制、创新投资促进方式、推动扩大内需、提升投资服务质量、提高投资促进效益提供启示,深化我国投资促进工作,提升国际竞争力。     

我国污染环境犯罪增设危险犯的必要性

随着我国经济社会的迅猛发展,工业化进程的加快,环境污染问题凸显,各地污染环境犯罪的案例层出不穷、数量大幅攀升.现行立法虽有进步,但其处罚的基本形态为实害犯、行为犯.这样的立法设置对于惩治污染环境犯罪的司法实践来说存在滞后性.为了更好地遏制并打击污染环境犯罪行为,应当在污染环境犯罪中增设危险犯.     

Unexpected Persistence Amidst Enlargement Stasis: Usages of Europe in Turkey’s Nuclear Energy Debate

Recent studies on European Union (EU) Enlargement have emphasised the importance of usages of ‘Europe’ by domestic actors as a necessary condition for the EU to have an impact on domestic politics. We study the usages of Europe in the critical case of Turkey’s nuclear energy policy. We analyse the narratives and actions of domestic actors in Turkey to identify if they use ‘Europe’ (the EU and the idea of Europe). We reach the counter-intuitive finding of usages by both state and non-state actors, which illustrates that usages of Europe can persist despite enlargement stasis in candidate states.     

Development as recolonization: the political ecology of the Endosulphan disaster in Kasargod,India

This paper examines the Endosulphan pesticide disaster in Kasargod, Kerala, India. The paper argues that the pesticide disaster was the culmination of an agrarian modernization project implemented in the region by the state-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK). An exploration of the political ecology of the disaster shows the recolonization of residents and nature by PCK through neocolonial forms of centralized and exclusionary spatial and resource control mechanisms. In this context, the paper questions the glorification of the “Kerala model” of development from the standpoints of environmental justice and resource rights, relying on the lived experiences of the people of Kasargod.