Privatization and elite defection in de facto states: The case of Transnistria, 1991–2012

What factors determine the timing of elite defection in conditions of post-Soviet personalistic presidentialism? How do relations with a powerful patron state affect this process? This article analyzes these questions on the basis of a case study of Transnistria, a de facto state with strong links to Russia. It argues that privatization processes involving actors from the patron state provide a unique opening for elite defection by heightening tensions between the rent-seeking interests of the personalistic president and those of new owners; direct or indirect signals from the patron state may also affect elite's perceptions of incumbent durability and their corresponding decisions.     

试论村民自治的健康发展

村民自治是我国农村政治体制的伟大创新。自上个世纪90年代开始推行村民自治制度以来,农村的经济状况、社会事业得到了空前的持续、稳定和健康发展,其成效显著。然而,它的推行给基层民主化进程带来生机和活力的同时,也不可避免地与农村传统观念、传统习惯存在着矛盾和冲突。本文主要从多种角度去理解村民自治,对村民自治的进程和成效做了阐述,并对村民自治过程中的问题做了详细分析,最后对村民自治的健康发展进行了探索性研究。     

关于现代化过程中国家问题的思考

现代国家是各国现代化事业的主导力量,如何搞好国家政权本身的建设是一国现代化过程中最重要的任务之一。从历史的角度看,民主国家并不排斥对外战争,一个民族并不必然与另一个民族分享自由,我们必须高度关注民主进程与国家统一之间的内在矛盾。     

First- and Third-World Newspapers on World Opinion: Imagined Communities in the Cold War and Post-Cold War Eras

This article considers the role of the "tabloid press" in Jordan's post-1989 liberalization process. Most studies of media in society and in processes of political transition have either ignored the role of tabloid media or derided them as examples of what is worst in media functioning. The present article seeks to compensate for this neglect by placing the tabloid press at the center of analyses of the media and democratization. In Jordan, the proliferation of such media after 1989 stands as one of the best indicators of the country's gradual, halting, but nonetheless real liberalization process. Tabloid performance was also perhaps the most prominent point of controversy, contention, and conflict between the Jordanian media and the regime in power. A brief comparative and theoretical analysis considers the role of the "yellow" press in transitions from authoritarianism to democracy worldwide. The article then turns to consider the Jordanian experience from the onset of liberalization in 1989 through to the present.     

多极化、全球化、多样化和国际关系民主化——略论江泽民国际战略思想

江泽民根据冷战后国际局势的变化，提出了一系列具有创新意义的国际战略思想。他指出当前世界多极化和经济全球化趋势是不可阻抑的发展潮流，为世界的和平与发展带来了机遇和条件；认为世界是丰富多彩的，各国明具有多样性，我们必须尊重和维护世界的多样性，侣导各国发展模式的多样化和国际关系民主化。江泽民的这些国际战略思想对于我国第三代领导集体成功处理多变的国际关系起到了重要的指导作用。     

政治体制改革要与时俱进

随着社会主义市场经济的深入发展、人们政治需求的不断觉醒和社会深层次矛盾的凸显,使加速政治体制改革变得日益紧迫和重要。发展社会主义民主政治的核心内容,是要实现权力体制民主化。     

At Cross Purposes? Democratization and Peace Implementation Strategies in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Frozen Conflict

The case of post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) provides an interesting lens through which to reflect on the interconnected and often conflicting challenges of implementation of internationally brokered peace agreements, external support to democratic transition and consolidation, and contemporary notions of sovereignty and state building. This chapter suggests that in the case of BiH, certain contradictions and tradeoffs have been and may still be necessary to ensure a foundation for future stability and democratic consolidation. The situation in post-Dayton BiH can be described as a frozen conflict that has remained frozen in large part due to an international presence that ensures that an imperfect peace prevails while also providing a basis for incremental reform. The peace implementation process in BiH is briefly reviewed by looking at two reform strategies: the “soft” protectorate strategy used in BiH as a whole and the “hard” protectorate option exercised in the District of Brčko. The aim is to demonstrate that while a democratic end-state remains the goal in such transitions, the means toward getting there can include a number of contradictory policy options.