The role of foreign donors in rebuilding the Ukrainian nation-state

The viewpoint discusses the role of foreign donors in rebuilding the Ukrainian nation-state. It argues that a gardener’s care is needed – not guidance, traditional teaching, or direction, but assistance. Foreign donors’ activities should be oriented principally to the support of internal points of growth, social and economic. The task of empowering actors that show promise to propel socio-economic development from within can and should be prioritised. The policies of empowering local actors (as opposed to financing the government and established businesses) involve first and foremost supporting bottom-up initiatives and start-ups that have demonstrated their relevance and promise.     

Advocating for the cause of the “victims of Communism” in the European political space: memory entrepreneurs in interstitial fields

The European Parliament (EP) adopted, between 2004 and 2009, a series of resolutions calling for recognition of Communist crimes and commemoration of their victims. This article focuses on an overlooked aspect of anti-Communist activism, the awareness-raising activities carried out by some Central European Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to perpetuate the cause through networks that enable them to exchange institutional credibility, scientific legitimacy, and policy-oriented knowledge with Institutes of National Memory, parts of academia, and victims associations. Although they use the techniques of expertise and scandalization that are often effective in European institutions, these memory entrepreneurs have largely failed to further their claims in the European Union (EU) after 2009. In line with the turn toward “practice” in EU studies and the increased attention paid to agency in memory politics, this article contends that the conditions of production of their narrative of indictment of Communism accounts for this relative lack of success. Because their demands produced a strong polarization inside the EP while colliding with established Western patterns of remembrance, these MEPs’ reach remains limited to their Conservative peers from the former Eastern bloc. This weak national and ideological representativeness hinders their capacity to impose their vision of the socialist period in the European political space.     

#Democracy: social media use and democratic legitimacy in Central and Eastern Europe

Since 1989, many of the former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have made the dramatic change from communist regimes to democratic nations that are integrated in the European sphere. While these sweeping changes have given rise to a successful transition to democracy unlike any the world has ever seen, there remain issues with governance as well as citizen support for the regime. While other studies have shown that mass media can influence a person's attitudes and opinions in the region, none has explored what effect social media can have on orientations toward democracy in the region. In the following paper, I build several hypotheses based on previous studies of media effects and democratic survival. I then employ survey data to empirically test whether social media increases support for democracy. The study finds that not only does using social media increase support for democracy, but also simple usage rather than information seeking provides more consistent effects on a person's support for democracy in CEE.     

Justice Without Transition: Truth Commissions in the Context of Repressive Rule

While the study of transitional justice, and especially truth commissions, has gained in popularity over the past two decades, the literature is overwhelmingly focused on activities in democratizing states. This introduces a selection bias that interferes with proper analysis of causes and consequences of transitional justice on a global scale. In this paper, I discuss conditions under which new repressive elites, and even old repressive elites who survive to rule and repress in nominally new systems, may choose to launch broad investigations of the past. I argue that such a decision is based on two primary considerations, the presence of internally or externally based incentives (e.g., foreign aid) and the level of political control enjoyed by old elites in the new system. I apply this argument to post-Soviet Central Asia, including a detailed case study of Uzbekistan’s 1999 truth commission based on domestic media analysis and local elite interviews.

论中央与地方关系法治化的实践和理论误区

目前,我国中央与地方关系的法治化在立法、司法方面成就与不足并存,在行政方面法治化程度最低。加快中央与地方行政关系的法治化是解决当前我国诸多重大问题的客观需要,是当前我国行政管理体制改革的必然要求。中央与地方关系的法治化问题在实质上就是国家结构形式的完善问题,在推进中央与地方关系法治化的过程中,应当注意走出国家结构形式的几个理论误区:我国的国家结构形式是单一制;联邦制奉行的是"双重主权"原则;单一制与联邦制相比,中央更具权威;完善国家结构形式,我们必须坚持单一制。     

中央红军长征途中在贵州召开的几次重要会议

中央红军长征途中，中共中央在贵州先后召开了黎平会议、猴场会议、遵义会议、鸡呜三省会议、苟坝会议等一系列重要会议，作出了一系列正确的决策部署，挽救了红军，挽救了党。     

中央苏区时期党对意识形态宣传规律的探索

意识形态宣传在中共的宣传工作中处于十分重的地位，是中共宣传思想工作的重组成部分。中央苏区时期，中共坚持不懈地进行马克思主义基本理论的宣传，积累了丰富的意识形态宣传经验。探索和把握中共在中央苏区进行意识形态宣传的规律，对于提高中共领导意识形态工作的能力，开创社会主义意识形态建设新局面，增强社会主义意识形态凝聚力与感召力具有重的现实意义。     

三方互动：规范我国地方政府间竞争的思考

在我国当前的制度环境下,地方政府在竞争中可以采取4种策略:约束“掠夺之手”、减少公共品的供给、将危机转嫁给不具流动性的要素、树立壁垒干预市场。规范地方政府间竞争应当避免地方政府采用第3、4种策略。为限制地方政府树立壁垒干预市场,从中央层面来看,需要建立全国统一大市场,推行以公平为基础的政策、制度化中央与地方的权力分配;从地方层面来看,需要转变地方政府职能,加强地方公共财政建设,构建地方特色;从社会层面来看,为限制地方政府转嫁竞争危机,需要充分发挥居民在地方政府间竞争中的裁决作用,发挥民营经济的力量以及发挥第三部门的力量。     

唐王朝中央行政体制的构成及其效能分析

在中央行政管理体制上,唐王朝注重中央行政权力的划分与制约,逐渐完善了三省六部制,以行使最高行政决策权、审核权和执行权。同时,为了保证决策和执行系统正常而有序的运作,还设置了专门的行政监察系统。唐王朝中央行政管理体制的构成与中央行政权既相互分立又相互制约的体制运行特点及其效能,对当代中国的行政体制改革具有一定的借鉴价值。     

地方保护主义对中央与地方关系格局的影响

中国改革开放以来地方保护主义产生的原因主要有 :地方分权 ;扭曲的市场和价格体系造成的市场割据 ;不公平竞争强化了“诸侯经济”。对此 ,中央政府采取了一些必要的应对措施 ,如实行分税制 ,推行全方位发展战略等。经济的高速发展离不开地方政府积极的经济行为 ,关键是如何强化这种正面影响 ,削弱负面影响。问题的解决最终要靠制度改革。