Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream?

This article analyses the serious problem of corruption in India by examining its causes and the various anti-corruption measures employed by the government from the formation in 1941 of the first anti-corruption agency, the Delhi Special Police Establishment, which was expanded to form the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1963. India's ineffective anti-corruption strategy can be attributed to the lack of political will of its leaders and its unfavourable policy context, which has hindered the enforcement of the anti-corruption laws. The lack of political will in fighting corruption is manifested in the lowest per capita expenditure and least favourable staff-population ratio of the CBI when compared to those of its counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand. To enhance the CBI's effectiveness, it should be removed from the jurisdiction of the police and be established as an independent agency dedicated solely to curbing corruption. The Constitution of India should also be amended to empower the CBI to investigate corruption cases at the state level without obtaining the consent of the chief minister of the state. In view of the lack of political will, this article concludes that curbing corruption in India remains an impossible dream in the foreseeable future.     

Trust Management in the Finnish Ministries: Evaluation of Management Systems

Abstract

Our purpose was to find out to what extent civil servants—managers, specialists, and experts—in 13 Finnish ministries have confidence in their management systems. We defined trust as a kind of deep sentiment, more fundamental than mere acceptance, satisfaction or legitimacy. Trust and mistrust are strong motivators for cooperation and collaboration. They are logical outcomes of social interaction in terms of management systems and context. We found out that civil servants are more likely to trust management if it acts professionally with no emphasis on political factors. Ministers, for instance, can efficiently earn their trust with administrative experience and behavior norms. Our analysis showed that there are both well‐trusted and ill‐trusted components in management systems implicating that management must be the object of continuous development. As a whole civil servants have more confidence in work community than in strategy, structure, people policies, and administrative processes of the ministries.     

Enforcing consensus? The hidden bias in EU democracy promotion in Central and Eastern Europe

Democracy is a primary export norm of the European Union (EU). It has also played a key role in the conditionalities that have governed the accession processes of new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The EU has often been accused of offering little guidance regarding the specifics of desirable democracy models and the means of their consolidation. But are these accusations justified? In the first part of this article a detailed examination of European Commission opinions and reports reveals that it has consistently promoted a specific model of democracy in future member states. It shows a strong bias in favour of Lijphart's model of consensus democracy, which is indiscriminately advocated for prospective member states. The second part of the article draws attention to the serious obstacles which exist in the region to the realization of this model. We question the wisdom of the Commission's one-size-fits-all democratic model given these obstacles and the real-life diversity of political contexts in the region.     

“中三角”空间范围与发展定位

"中三角"以湘鄂赣三省为宜,以武汉城市群、长株潭城市群和大南昌城市群为主要载体。应分别从空间定位、功能定位、产业定位、特色定位等四方面对"中三角"及各大片区发展进行战略定位。研究表明,"中三角"应定位为我国重要的"两基地三区、一中心一枢纽",成为中部地区崛起的重要战略支点和核心增长极,成为我国具有国际性功能、跨省域影响力和较强创新能力的区域性经济中心和重要的经济区,成为继珠三角、长三角、环渤海之后中国经济增长的第四极。     

苏区红色标语及其现实价值探析

苏区红色标语,为建设和巩固革命根据地发挥了积极的宣传鼓动作用。目前,在井冈山及中央苏区所在地,仍保存着大量的红色标语。这些历经磨难保存下来的红色标语,既是革命前辈留给后人的一批珍贵的革命历史档案,也是中国共产党的极为珍贵的精神财富,其价值功能不仅彰显在革命历史时期,更体现在对现实社会的深远影响。     

Civil society

The idea of civil society has proved very elusive, escaping conceptual grasps and evading sure-footed negotiation of the concept itself. Resurrected in a very definite historical setting, that of authoritarian states, the concept of civil society came to signify a set of social and political practices that sought to engage with state power. The close connection with the re-emergence of the concept and the collapse of dictatorial states made civil society attractive to a variety of political agents pursuing different agendas: expanding the market at the expense of the state, transiting from mass politics to single-issue and localised campaigns, undermining confidence in accepted modes of representation such as political parties, and in general shrinking the domain of the state and that of accepted modes of politics. That the concept of civil society could suit such a variety of different political projects is cause for some alarm, for it might well mean that civil society has come to mean everything to everyone remotely interested in it.     

中亚安全形势的变化及其影响

2014年以来,中亚安全形势发生了较大的变化。塔利班频频越境袭扰,"伊斯兰国"不断向中亚渗透,加之跨境贩毒的有增无减使得中亚面临的安全压力不断增加。中亚安全形势变化的背后有着较为复杂的原因,其中既有美国对中东和阿富汗政策调整的因素,也有中亚国家自身政治经济军事体制转型过程中诸多问题的反应,此外还与中亚地区复杂的历史和民族问题有关。中亚安全形势的变化不仅迟滞了中亚国家的社会政治转型进程,还对参与该地区博弈的俄美欧等大国,尤其是对俄罗斯产生了重要的影响,对中国西北边疆的安全及即将实施的"丝绸之路经济带"战略也带来了较大的挑战。虽然目前中亚安全形势总体上仍在可控范围,但是中亚安全问题解决的前景仍然充满了不确定性,中短期内中亚的安全形势难以大幅改观。未来,我们必须要从多边、双边和个人等多个层面入手,加强国际合作,以有效应对中亚安全问题对中国的威胁。     

中国中亚安全战略的构建

中亚独特的地理位置及丰富的战略资源和能源。已成为大国地缘政治竞赛战略区。作为中亚地区近邻的中国。应制定明确的中亚战略以维护自身安全。中国在中亚地区的地缘战略选择上。一方面要体现合作求发展、合作求双赢的精神。以“和而不同”的外交理念为指导。倡导新安全观。在中亚努力营造一个有利于保障和平、稳定的地缘政治环境。另一方面结合国家利益的需要。以上海合作组织为战略依托。以能源合作为战略重点。平衡中亚各方势力,保持中亚地缘战略的灵活性。为战略机遇期中国的和平崛起提供良好的外部环境。     

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。