Civil society support for military coups: Bangladesh and the Philippines

As of yet, civil society support for military coups has hardly been investigated in depth. This article compares the attempted military coup in 2006 against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which received support from prominent civil society leaders, to the collaboration between civil society actors and the military-backed Caretaker Government that ruled Bangladesh from 2007 to 2008. It argues that in both cases, civil society support for military intervention can be traced to the weakness of the state.     

Measuring and managing ‘state fragility’: the production of statistics by the World Bank,Timor-Leste and the g7+

Indicators are currently being widely used in international policy making to substantiate analyses and justify decisions on the basis of their alleged scientific objectivity. This article analyses the role of indicators and statistics in the labelling and managing of ‘fragile states’, examining the powerful consequences of these classifications but also discussing the untraceable nature of numbers and the difficulties in attributing ownership of numerical claims and assigning responsibility for their many unforeseen impacts. Focusing on the education sector in Timor-Leste and on the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (cpia) programme, the article shows how accountability and ownership are negotiated within the context of the g7+ group of self-labelled ‘fragile states’, encouraging an examination of the power relations involved.     

物权效力及其类型的另路分析——兼谈与效力类型相连的物权效力量

结合物权运行状态和情势进行梳理,物权有基础性实行效力、衍生性保全效力与转化性救济效力。实行效力契合物权本旨,表现静态归属和物权人得通过一定实行行为使物满足需求的动态过程。保全效力主要指物权请求权,属衍生性请求权,其独立性要求或重新认识侵权行为法的债法地位,或将其中物权请求权效力的内容还原归位到物权法。救济效力是物权的最终效力,也是损害赔偿之债或不当得利之债的效力,于此物权效力与债权效力合一。对物权效力作量的考察可帮助认识物权效力边界和作用范围。实行效力转化为救济效力时,不存在如债权获得救济时的“同一性”而是效力量受到了减损。可提出某些物权救济之债具有相较一般债权优先的办法来还原和保持物权效力量。     

独联体国家法院系统比较研究

在独联体国家中,政治体制不同的国家宪法文本中规定的内容则有很大的区别。对独联体国家中的政治体制不同的几个国家的法院系统在宪法文本规定层面上作一比较研究,通过对各国法院系统的结构、职权,法官的职责、权利、地位以及司法权和其他与司法相关的权利方面等方面进行的比较可发现这些比较研究对我国当今的司法制度有多方面的启示。     

The five shades of grey: party systems and authoritarian institutions in post-Soviet Central Asian states

ABSTRACT

This article overviews and seeks to explain the processes of party system formation in the post-Soviet Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) by focusing on a crucial party-system property, fragmentation. The analysis reveals that to a much greater extent than in democracies, where party systems are largely shaped by societal factors, the level of party system fragmentation in autocracies is determined by the scope of presidential powers, as entrenched in the formal institutional order and reflected in the national constitution. The level of authoritarianism is largely inconsequential for party system fragmentation, while the role of electoral rules is secondary. Institutionally weak and institutionally strong autocratic presidents have a preference for fragmented party systems, while presidents with an intermediate range of powers seek and obtain low levels of party system fragmentation.     

Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

The article concludes the Special Issue, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe, on the retreat of liberal democracy in the region. It focuses on the central themes that link all the papers together: free and fair elections, media freedom, judicial independence, privileged access to public resources and the role of civil society. It seeks to disentangle the causes and consequences of illiberal politics in the region and explores the similarities in the illiberal practices and strategies incumbents use with the aim of staying in power indefinitely. The main argument is that democratic backsliding in Southeast Europe is deeply rooted in the unfinished transitions of the 1990s, which gave rise to new political and economic elites and that blending those two into one resulted in the dominance of the executive over the judiciary and legislature. These new elites became entrenched during the wars and conflicts that affected the region. The enabling factors were of societal origin – clientelist practices, corruption, nepotism and mistrust in politics accompanied by external factors – as well as international pull and push factors (from the EU and Russia) along with a domino effect of democratic backsliding in the region.     

Commonwealth Small States,Education and Environmental Uncertainty: Learning from the Sharp End

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the Commonwealth’s inclusive role in engaging with the distinctive challenges of education provision in small states, an agenda that is often neglected elsewhere. We examine the origins of Commonwealth work on education in small states, the nature of its comparative advantage, its role in facilitating small states’ engagement with international education dialogue and regional co-operation, and the demand and potential for ongoing Commonwealth support for education. Particular attention is given to experience within the Caribbean region and to the potential for the Commonwealth and the wider international community to learn from small states in the light of their distinctive educational challenges, achievements and priorities – and, most notably, their experience at the ‘sharp end’ of environmental uncertainty and climate change.     

Economic inequality in satisfaction with healthcare in the Baltic countries during and after the economic crisis (2008–2014)

ABSTRACT

Public satisfaction with healthcare systems is an important dimension of healthcare legitimacy. The paper analyzes how satisfaction with healthcare systems depended upon the economic situation of our respondents during and after the economic recession in the Baltic states. The results show that there were no differences in public satisfaction with healthcare between better and worse off people in Estonia (except in 2009). In Lithuania, however, satisfaction among the economically better off was higher compared to other groups between 2008 and 2014. In Latvia, inequality in satisfaction between groups in different economic situations became significant from 2010.     

Militarization in Burma's ethnic states: causes and consequences

Despite a dramatic reduction in fighting in Burma's ethnic states, militarization has increased as the regime seeks to extend its sovereignty and capitalize on economic opportunities. Rather than ensuring civilians' safety, militarization has exposed more civilians to human security threats, with serious consequences for families and communities. Abuses are likely to continue as long as the regime under-finances its army, disregards disciplinary problems, and receives diplomatic cover from its foreign economic partners. While civilians have sought to manage these threats as best they can, their degree of agency is, in most cases, highly constrained, and women have been particularly affected. Nevertheless, the development of community-based organizations which make use of porous borders to expose abuses and provide assistance to distressed communities constitutes an important, if limited, development.     

俄罗斯与亚洲国家经济关系述评

上世纪90年代初期,俄罗斯曾经忽视与亚洲国家的关系,与亚洲各国的经济联系日渐萎缩。90年代中期,俄意识到与亚洲国家关系的重要性,逐渐恢复与亚洲各国的政治经济联系。新世纪初,普京当选为总统后,俄更加重视亚洲的地位,与亚洲各国的经济关系越来越密切。