The UN Security Council,normative legitimacy and the challenge of specificity

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses how the general and abstract concept of legitimacy applies to international institutions, using the United Nations Security Council as an example. We argue that the evaluation of the Security Council’s legitimacy requires considering three significant and interrelated aspects: its purpose, competences, and procedural standards. We consider two possible interpretations of the Security Council’s purpose: on the one hand, maintaining peace and security, and, on the other, ensuring broader respect for human rights. Both of these purposes are minimally morally acceptable for legitimacy. Second, we distinguish between three different competences of the UNSC: 1) the decision-making competence, 2) the quasi-legislative competence, and 3) the referral competence. On this basis, we argue that different procedural standards are required to legitimise these competences, which leads to a more differentiated understanding of the Security Council’s legitimacy. While maintaining that the membership structure of the Council is a severe problem for its legitimacy, we suggest other procedural standards that can help to improve its overall legitimacy, which include broad transparency, deliberation, and the revisability of the very terms of accountability themselves.     

Packing Heat in the Classroom: Public Support for “Armed Teacher” Policy

ABSTRACT

Recently, states have enacted teacher-carry laws. While controversial, little scholarship has tapped public attitudes toward such reforms. Because public opinion shapes policy, the public is an important stakeholder in this debate. Thus, we investigated three questions. First, how supportive is the public of arming teachers? Second, what demographic and social divides exist, if any, for reform approval? Finally, do crime-related perceptions, concerning views about public safety, and criminogenic influences shape policy preferences? We test these questions using a 2018 poll of Virginia residents (N = 521). Overall, approval for teacher-carry is split. Crime-related perceptions mediate some of the initial social and demographic divides in opinion but other correlates, such as parental status, remain salient predictors of views. Implications are discussed.     

Legitimacy,self-determination,and conditional cooperators

ABSTRACT

This article critically examines the account of collective self-determination and state legitimacy developed by Stilz in her book. Central to this account is the idea that for a state to be legitimate it must reflect the shared will of the people over which it governs. I argue that the normative taxonomy Stilz employs to develop this criterion of legitimacy ignores the possibility of conditional cooperators: groups who are alienated from society due to the injustices they experience but are willing to affirm their participation in state institutions if these injustices are rectified. I then demonstrate that since there are no grounds for discounting the dissent of conditional cooperators, their presence significantly increases the threshold for state legitimacy that follows from Stilz’s theory. As a result, Stilz is forced to abandon her claim that basically just states generally enjoy a qualified ‘right to do wrong’.     

Unity in the face of threat? Exploring the empirical relationship between strategic threat perceptions and public support for a common European army in Germany

ABSTRACT

Perceptions of threat from Russia’s military activities in Ukraine and President Trump’s critical attitude towards NATO have put the idea of a common European army on the agenda of European politics. Do these strategic threat perceptions also influence public support for the creation of a common European army? Previous research has largely overlooked strategic threat perceptions as individual-level determinants of public support for a common European army. This article explores the empirical relationship between strategic threat perceptions and support for a common European army at the individual level of analysis with representative German survey data from 2018. The multivariate analysis shows that perceiving Russia’s military activities in Ukraine as a threat to Germany’s security, and U.S. foreign and security policy as a threat to the cohesion of NATO significantly increases support for the creation of a common European army, even when the influence of numerous other determinants is controlled for. The findings highlight the importance of considering strategic threat perceptions in future analyses of public opinion on European defence cooperation and integration.     

“凡进必考”可以提升基层公务员的专业自主性吗?--基于准自然实验的断点回归分析

"凡进必考"制度是我国选贤任能制度的重要内容,有利于我国干部队伍专业化建设,但现有研究对考试录用制度与专业自主性关系的解释存在不足。本研究提出了理论上的解释:"凡进必考"制度触发基层公务员与内部人利益分离机制;注重专业能力的"凡进必考"制度触发专业角色期待机制,两者均有利于专业自主性提升。本研究采集我国东中部10个城市基层公务员数据,使用断点回归与中介效应方法,实证结果显示:《国家公务员暂行条例》1996年在地方落实后触发利益分离机制;基层公务员专业能力对公务员制度变迁与专业自主性关系起到中介作用;2014年实施《党政领导干部选拔任用工作条例》开始限缩"公开选拔"适用范围对专业自主性产生负面影响。未来选贤任能制度完善中,如何平衡灵活录用与专业自主性是一个有待解决的问题。     

Interview with Nathalie Tocci on the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy

The Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy, “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe”, presented at the European Council on 24 June 2016 by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, was drafted by Nathalie Tocci, Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and co-editor of The International Spectator. 

Given the importance of the document, we asked Nathalie for an interview and 18 foreign policy experts from around the world to comment on it.     

How does democracy influence citizens’ perceptions of government corruption? A cross-national study

We examine the effect of democracy as an institutional context on individuals’ perceptions of government corruption. To do so, we compile an integrated dataset from the Asian, Afro, and Latino Barometer Surveys and use a hierarchical linear regression model. Our primary finding is that the effect of democracy has different effects on ordinary citizens’ perceptions of corruption in different contexts. In general, people in countries with higher levels of democracy tend to perceive their governments to be more corrupt. However, more importantly, conditional models show that in countries with more developed democratic institutions, individuals with stronger democratic values are less likely to perceive the government to be corrupt. Moreover, people in such countries are less likely to assess their government based on their perceptions of economic situation.     

An investigation into the risk perceptions held by maximum security correctional officers

Maximum security correctional officers play a crucial role in the establishment of order within their respective institutions of employment, yet they are also exposed to numerous occupational dangers that can threaten their general welfare. When they perceive high levels of injurious risk from workplace hazards, this cannot only jeopardize their job performance but lead to a poorly managed prison institution. Currently though, few studies have explored correctional officer perceptions of workplace dangers and risks, and even fewer have explored the factors that influence officer perceived risk of injury. Questionnaire data from a statewide population of maximum security correctional officers (N?=?649) were gathered in order to examine officer perceived risk of injury from workplace dangers, and the antecedents to this judgment. Results illustrated how officers perceived a high degree of injurious risk from their work, and that their risk perceptions were largely a product of psychological features of dangers. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

论我国证券市场监管的完善

证券市场是最具吸引力的经济领域之一,同时,证券市场是信用制度和市场经济发展到一定阶段的的产物,是风险高度集中的市场,具有风险来源广、传导性强和社会危害性巨大的特点。经过十几年的发展,我国证券市场无论在总量还是结构方面,都取得了长足的进步。证券市场的稳健有序发展与高效实用的证券监管体制密不可分。证券市场的监管是证券市场存在和发展的基石,是国家规范证券市场的有效手段。我国已依法建立了对证券市场的集中统一的监管体制,但目前的监管现状与证券市场的飞速发展的现实要求间存在一定的差距。本文以我国证券市场监管的现状为基础,分析目前市场监管存在的主要问题,提出相应的完善对策,以期通过建立有效的监管,极大的提高证券市场运行效率,防范和化解风险,使证券市场更好的为国民经济服务。     

论中国工会学的学科自主性

自主性是学科体系和知识体系的内在特性,强化学科自主性是贯穿于改革开放以来中国工会理 论研究的基本线索,是工会学作为独立学科的本质性规定。工会学的研究对象、学科基础和知识疆域有其自身 的独特性,这种独特性是由中国工会的历史传统、价值内核、指导思想、组织原则、结构特征和制度精神等因 素共同决定的,这是设置工会学学科的基本依据。在马克思主义理论一级学科下设置工会学学科,是中国工运 事业和工会工作的一件大事,这对于开辟马克思主义工会学说中国化时代化新境界,推进中国特色社会主义工 会发展道路守正创新,构建中国工会自主知识体系具有重大的现实意义和深远的历史意义。