Rethinking measures of democracy and welfare state universalism: Lessons from subnational research

ABSTRACT

Democracy and the welfare state are two of the most extensively studied concepts and themes in the field of comparative politics. Debate about how to best measure the two concepts has failed to contemplate the extent to which political and social rights are uniformly present across distinct regions of the national territory, despite the presence of substantial subnational research that underscores wide variation inside countries. We argue that this omission hampers our understanding of the two phenomena and we propose a new measure of democracy and healthcare universalism, which we call the Adjusted Measures of Democracy and Welfare Universalism. The new measures integrate territorial inequality into existing national-level indicators, providing a more accurate picture of country performance and opening the door to new, multi-level theory building.     

马克思主义时代观理论形态的逻辑演进——论马克思、列宁、邓小平的时代理论和创新发展

马克思主义时代观是科学认识和系统把握时代发展变革规律性的立场、观点、方法的综合集成,是马克思主义时代发展理论的高度概括和集中体现。商品经济产生资本主义,资本主义导致帝国主义,国家垄断资本主义作为垄断资本主义的典型形式和成熟形态,成为通向社会主义的新物质准备与历史阶梯和发展中间站。资本主义的整个发展过程及其通向社会主义道路,又是以经济现代化和全球化为载体的世界社会化大生产从低级形态向高级形态逻辑演进过程,并以三个不同发展阶段形成了世界历史发展的三个不同时代。马克思、列宁、邓小平系统考察他们各自所处于的世界经济现代化和全球化不同发展阶段及其具有不同的时代内容和时代形式,从世界体系和全球战略上科学揭示出世界历史不同发展阶段及其时代发展变革规律性,形成了时代构成基础、时代中心问题、时代发展道路三位一体的马克思主义时代观及其创新发展的三大理论形态。这三大时代发展理论形态以鲜明的时代内容和时代形式,不仅成为马克思主义理论体系发展的三大阶段及其时代化的主要标志,而且构成了马克思主义理论体系的重要组成部分,成为马克思主义体现时代性、把握规律性、富于创造性的科学方法和理论支柱。     

美国战略调整背景下朝鲜半岛地缘战略困境的演变与突破

作为美国全球战略的重要一环,美国亚太再平衡战略引发东北亚地缘战略形势的陡然紧张,也使朝鲜半岛局势在一波三折中日趋扑朔迷离。围绕朝鲜第三次核试验出现的中美日俄韩朝的双边和多边博弈不断升温,朝鲜半岛无核化的传统安全与非传统安全风险相互交织。要突破朝鲜半岛地缘紧张加剧和战略困境加深的窘况,必须坚持多边框架解决原则、努力落实安全承诺和不断深化经贸合作。     

Majoritarian values and women’s rights: police and judicial behavior in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan

This paper analyzes judicial and police behavior in dealing with cases of family violence and divorce in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. Police and judges deliberately violate existing legal provisions to prevent women from divorcing or filing charges against their husbands in cases of domestic violence. While the law does not recognize religious marriages in Tajikistan, judges often rule to protect women’s living space after the dissolution of such unions. Drawing on rich interview and archival data, this behavior is explained by showing that judicial and police behavior reflects their biases, which in turn are a reflection of majoritarian norms in these countries. Since current laws are derived from Soviet codes, which were never internalized by the population, police and judges bend them to fit their understanding of social justice.     

Institutions and Development in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis

We review the theoretical literature on the concept of institutions and its relationship to national development, propose a definition of the concept, and advance six hypotheses about institutional adequacy and contributions to national development. We then present results of a comparative empirical study of existing institutions in three Latin American countries and examine their organizational similarities and differences. Employing the qualitative comparative method (QCA) proposed by Ragin, we then test the six hypotheses. Results converge in showing the importance of meritocracy, immunity to corruption, absence of “islands of power,” and proactivity in producing effective institutions. Findings strongly support Peter Evans’ theory of developmental apparatuses.

论苏联解体后的“核遗产”及核扩散危机

苏联解体后其庞大的核武库也一分为四,在核武器系统、核材料、核科学家及核技术等三个层次都出现了失控的核扩散危机。以美国为首的国际社会从各个方面给予了大力援助,使前苏联庞大的"核遗产"得到了妥善的处理。因苏联解体而一度出现的核国家增多的问题得以解决,核扩散危机也基本得到消除。这不仅有效地捍卫了国际核不扩散体制,而且在实践上也是对国际核不扩散机制的补充和发展,对人类社会的和平与安全也是重大的贡献。当朝鲜和伊朗核问题屡成危机而长期困扰国际社会时,我们重温这段历史,也具有深刻的现实意义。     

The geopolitical economy of social policy in the Philippines: securitisation,emerging powers and multilateral policies

Recent geopolitical and economic changes have altered global social policy formation. The Bretton Woods multilateral development agencies (MDAs) have selectively incorporated ideas emerging from developing country states and decision makers, with a recent increased acceptance of social transfers as part of renewed efforts at poverty alleviation based on social risk management. There has been an instance in the use and promotion of conditional cash transfer (CCT) policies by MDAs. CCTs were a product of the emergence of a neo-structuralist welfare regime (understood as an ideal type) in Latin America – an attempt to reconcile neoliberal strategies of development with aspirations for guaranteed minimum incomes. The Bretton Woods and regional development bank MDAs have facilitated the adoption of CCTs in other developing countries, including the Phillipines. Here, a combination of actions by national political actors and MDAs has resulted in the implementation of a securitised and compliance-focused version of CCTs derived from the Colombian security state. Although poor Philippine households welcome income assistance, CCTs have acted to enforce further state monitoring without altering the national-based political and economic processes that replicate poverty.     

Problems and contradictions of participatory democracy: lessons from Latin America

The participatory innovations of the last few decades, particularly in Latin America, seem to suggest that the establishment of more participatory democracies is possible. However, limitations have characterized important participatory experiences. While the Bolivian, Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan attempts to promote popular participation have produced both positive and negative effects, some of these participatory experiences’ limitations are useful to highlight more general problems and contradictions that seem to be inherently associated with the establishment of participatory democracy in poorly functioning liberal democracies and in exclusionary and unequal societies. This analysis suggests that, paradoxically, the establishment of effective and inclusive participatory institutions may be less feasible where participatory mechanisms appear, at first glance, as most needed and promising.     

中东欧国家与冷战后北约的新变化

冷战结束后,北约并未因对手的消失而瓦解,而是通过扩大组织、出台新战略和实施新行动找到生存依据并获得新的发展。在北约的新扩大、新战略和新行动中,中东欧国家不管是主动参与还是被动接受,都起到了不可低估的作用。中东欧国家的加入令北约成员国从16个增至30个,拓展了北约的疆域。东欧剧变带来的国际局势的变化,特别是前南斯拉夫地区发生的战争促使北约提出新的战略概念,波黑战争、科索沃战争和马其顿危机更是成为北约新战略的试验场。中东欧国家参与了北约在波黑、科索沃、阿富汗和伊拉克的行动以及乌克兰危机发生后针对俄罗斯的军事部署,做出独有的贡献。同时,中东欧国家的加入也给北约在决策效率、行动能力、责任分担和价值观方面带来新的挑战。不过,由于中东欧国家的军事力量和国家实力有限,在北约内部的影响力不大,这些挑战不足以危及北约的生存。     

俄国石油业的发展与外国石油资本

19世纪后期到20世纪初,俄国石油业在先发性与相对滞后性的矛盾中发展。先发性指俄国是世界石油工业发展较早的地区之一;相对滞后性指与美国相比,俄国石油业在组织方面存在着差距。俄国因其石油资源丰富、利润丰厚成为国际石油资本角逐的场所。俄国外有美国石油资本的竞争,对内则引进欧洲石油资本。以诺贝尔公司为代表的欧洲石油资本不仅资金雄厚、技术先进,还得到俄国政府的支持。欧洲石油资本既推动了俄国石油业的发展,但又并非总能与俄国保持利益上的一致。