Democracy Beyond Secrecy: Assessing the Promises and Pitfalls of Collective Voting

This paper assesses collective voting as a specific mode of democratic decision‐making and compares it to secret voting. Under collective voting, voters gather in one place and decide by the show of hands. We theorise two potential advantages and two disadvantages of collective voting so defined. We then draw on original survey data from one of the largest polities practising collective voting, the citizen assembly of the Swiss canton of Glarus. We find that both the promises and pitfalls of non‐secret voting are exaggerated. Non‐secret voting’s suspected pitfalls – social pressure and abstention – do not generally materialise in our sample, although for women they do appear to be relevant to some extent. However, the promises of collective voting – enabling cue‐taking and discursive bridging and bonding – are equally realised to a limited extent only.     

法学视野中的市民社会理论

中国学术界对市民社会理论的关注是以对现代化的探索为背景的。市民社会理论认为 ,国家与社会的关系 ,应当是市民社会决定政治国家 ,因此 ,中国在探求法制现代化的过程中 ,应充分重视市民社会的基础作用与决定作用 ,同时 ,有必要对西方市民社会理论正确鉴别、吸收。     

“政治入世“与政治文明建设

有人把加入国际人权公约称为"政治入世".改革的趋势就是经济体制改革拉动社会体制改革和政治体制改革,改革需要新的突破,我国即将加入<公民权利和政治权利国际公约>,这为我国的政治体制改革提供了绝佳的契机.在人权制度的建设方面,我国已取得很大成就,但是同样不可否认的事实是,与国际人权公约相对照,我国人权法律制度的诸多方面还有待改革.     

美国联邦环境法的公民诉讼制度

公民诉讼制度作为自力救济措施是美国环境保护法律制度中的特色之一。该制度赋予公民借助法院的权力 ,监督行政机关执行环境保护法律以达到加强执法或消除污染、改善环境的目的。研究该制度对我国加强环境保护法律的执行、提高公众的环境保护意识具有一定的作用。     

Citizen aid: grassroots interventions in development and humanitarianism

Abstract

The introduction to this collection brings together, under the umbrella terms of citizen aid and grassroots humanitarianism, interdisciplinary research on small-scale, privately funded forms of aid and development. It notes the steady rise of these activities, including in the Global South as well as North, such as in the context of the recent European refugee crisis. It considers their position vis-à-vis more institutionalised forms of aid; methodological approaches and their challenges; and asks what political dimensions these initiatives may have. It outlines key themes arising from the contributions to the collection, including historical perspectives on ‘demotic humanitarianism’, questions of legitimacy and their apparent lack of professionalisation, motivations of their founders, the role of personal connections, as well as the importance of digital media for brokerage and fundraising. Being mindful of its critiques and implicit power imbalances, it suggests that citizen aid deserves more systematic academic attention.     

Citizens’ perceptions of the courts: The impact of race, gender, and recent experience

This study examined the influences of race, gender, and recent court experience on citizens’ perceptions of the courts in their communities. Using national survey data collected in 2000, this research assessed variation in perceptions of the courts along four dimensions: differential treatment, fair procedure and outcome, concern and respect, and overall evaluation. The results showed that racial minorities, including Blacks and Latinos, were more likely than Whites to have negative attitudes toward the courts. While race is generally a better predictor than gender, the interaction between gender and race is important in understanding citizen’s perceptions of the courts. Citizens who have recent personal contact with the courts tend to rate the courts less favorable than those who have no recent contact. Citizens’ opinions of the police and equal opportunity are also significantly related to their perceptions of the courts. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

善治理论视角下的和谐警民关系构建

警民关系是公安机关在社会管理中要处理的最重要的一项公共关系,其和谐与否直接关系到国家与社会的稳定。近年来警民冲突事件屡见报端,原因主要在于社会、政府、群众与公安队伍自身四个方面。从善治理论的视角分析,构建和谐警民关系有三路径选择,应提倡由公安机关主导的群众参与式社会治理模式。     

Examining Citizen Participation: Local Participatory Policy Making and Democracy

Citizen participation is usually seen as a vital aspect of democracy. Many theorists claim that citizen participation has positive effects on the quality of democracy. This article examines the probability of these claims for local participatory policymaking projects in two municipalities in the Netherlands. The article focuses on the relations between citizens and government from a citizens' perspective. The findings show that the role of citizens in these projects is limited, serving mainly to provide information on the basis of which the government then makes decisions. Nevertheless, the article argues that citizen involvement has a number of positive effects on democracy: not only do people consequently feel more responsibility for public matters, it increases public engagement, encourages people to listen to a diversity of opinions, and contributes to a higher degree of legitimacy of decisions. One negative effect is that not all relevant groups and interests are represented. The article concludes that for a healthy democracy at the local level, aspects of democratic citizenship are more important than having a direct say in decision-making.     

Policing and the Feeling of Safety: the Rise (and Fall?) of Community Policing in the Nordic Countries

A major trend in the Nordic countries is the increasing focus on citizens' perceptions of safety, the enhancement of which is seen as a task for the police. One way to accomplish this has been the introduction of proximity policing. Existing research on the subject from all the Nordic countries is evaluated, with special focus on a comprehensive evaluation of a Danish experiment. The evaluations demonstrate that the concept of proximity policing has had limited success, and it has been abandoned in Finland and Norway. The article concludes by offering some explanations for the lack of success, among these the high level of perceived safety already present in the Nordic countries, the lack of causal relation between police visibility and citizens' perception of safety, and the lack of tradition for citizen involvement in the Nordic welfare states.     

服务型政府构建的价值取向研究

构建服务型政府是实现有效社会治理的重要举措之一,也是经济全球化背景下我国政府改革的直接目标。作为一种新型的政府治理模式,服务型政府的构建必须以＂公民本位＂为核心指导思想,因为＂公民本位＂是服务型政府合法性的基础,是完成服务型政府根本任务的重要保障,是贯彻落实科学发展观的重要体现,是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要组成部分。＂公民本位＂对现阶段我国服务型政府的构建具有明显的价值导向作用,服务型政府应当是坚持公民权利导向、公共权力回归于民导向、法治导向和公民参与导向的政府。