Legislative Organisation and its Determinants in European Parliamentary Democracies

Questions regarding the origin and evolution of legislative institutions are at the heart of comparative legislative studies. Much research in this area focuses on the US Congress; in contrast, comparative studies of European democracies have been more limited. Addressing this imbalance, this special issue showcases newly emerging research on legislative organisation in Europe. In doing so, it brings together contributions that explore the rationales behind the emergence of, and variation in, national European voting practices, investiture rules, minority rights, committee power, agenda control, debating rules and individual MPs’ rights.     

协同创新与博士后培养模式的重构

基于协同创新的视角探究我国博士后培养模式对于提高博士后培养质量、产出高水平研究成果意义重大。针对我国的博士后教育在培养过程中存在培养模式单一、校企合作关系松散、校际缺乏合作、国际合作不足等问题,分析其主要成因在于博士后教育的主体之间协同不够顺畅,缺乏行动的一致性。鉴于此,在协同创新思想的指导下,汇聚各方资源,构建新型校企合作、校际联合、国际交流等富于创新性的博士后培养模式,从政策出台、资金投入以及评价机制等方面提出保障条件,是提高中国博士后培养质量的必然选择。     

《高等学校学术委员会规则》研究

《高等学校学术委员会规则》是由教育部在自身权限内发布的教育规章,是规范高等学校学术委员会设立、运行、管理与监督的准则,也是指导高等学校制定、审议、修订、核准与备案本校学术委员会章程的准则,按照总则、分则加附则的体例设计,以“章-节-条-款”的形式予以展开,核心内容包括七项：一是高等学校学术委员会建设的政策与法律依据;二是高等学校学术委员会的性质;三是高等学校学术委员会章程制定规则;四是高等学校学术委员会组织机构建设规则;五是高等学校学术委员会职责规则;六是高等学校学术委员会人员组成规则;七是高等学校学术委员会工作规则。     

FHA: Recent History and Future Prospects

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) deserves considerable credit for helping support the housing market during the recent financial crisis by increasing its own market share. However, as the recovery continues, the FHA can gradually return to its “traditional” role as an insurer of low-down-payment home mortgages for low-to-moderate-income and first-time homebuyers. A major concern going forward is susceptibility to increased adverse selection if it continues in nontraditional markets. Indeed, the modest market share of the FHA going into the housing collapse was important both in limiting its losses and in allowing it to maintain the market when other traditional secondary market makers failed.     

Institutional vehicles for place-shaping in remote Australia

Some communities in remote Australia represent the most impoverished people in the country, with the problem especially acute amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Effective remedial intervention is often undermined by the absence of democratically elected, local government institutions. Place-shaping as a developmental process enables local people to become agents of change, and thereby self-determine and shape their places for the future. This paper considers the different institutional structures which could underpin place-shaping in remote settlements. Drawing on a range of governance structures, an emphasis on less traditional entities and polity-forming bodies may better serve the interests of remote people.     

Marginalization as non-contribution

This paper examines the phenomenon of marginalization through the lens of the relatively neglected concept of contribution. It argues that the opportunity to contribute positively to others’ lives is an important component of human well-being which promotes the goods of meaning, self-respect and reliance. Where individuals enjoy that opportunity, they are on that account less marginalized. Contributory practices channelled through publicly recognized median institutions (between the state and the personal sphere) are especially valuable.     

Constraining Political Transformation: The Two Faces of Activist Religious Organizations in the Search for a New Constitution in Kenya

Abstract

Religious organizations are key structural components of Kenyan civil society that have played or continue to play a critical role in socio-political developments. In the last two and half decades especially, religious institutions have been among the principal actors shaping the mechanics and trajectories of Kenya's political order. But religious organizations’ political behaviour, especially in the country's search for a new constitution, was contentious and remarkably inconsistent. There were moments of progressive actions but also behaviour that imperilled progress. This article probes this ambivalence of Kenyan faith groups in the struggles for a new constitution. It is argued that their political behavioural inconsistencies largely reflect an ethnic, class and, to a lesser extent, instrumentalized doctrinal or denominational schism that is ever present in the wider Kenyan society. By analysing how religious leaders and their organizations challenged political elite domination while remaining amenable to its influence, this article illustrates the contradictions of elite pacts in these struggles and how they constrained progressive transformation.     

Hacia un proyecto “democrático-expansivo” de transparencia

This work explores the paradox of normative and institutional improvements vis-à-vis political and practical deficiencies through the analytical lens of an increasing clash among three different and opposing projects of transparency: the “bureaucratic”, the “public-relation,” and the “democratic-expanding” approaches. Mexico’s failure to fulfill the promises of its institutional reforms is due to the preeminence of the first two approaches. Mexico, as well as other countries in a similar situation, needs to transcend such superficial, one-sided approaches to fully embrace a project aimed at deepening and expanding democracy itself.     

Political Institutions and Public R&D Expenditures in Democratic Countries

While research and development (R&D) expenditure is crucial in a nation's competitive advantage, factors determining levels of public investment in R&D have yet to be examined. This article seeks to fill this void, focusing on different democratic institutions such as presidential versus parliamentary systems, majoritarian versus proportional electoral systems, federal versus unitary systems, bicameral versus unicameral legislatures, and the effective number of parties. Building upon theories of political institutions and government size and utilizing public R&D appropriations data from 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries between 1981 and 2007, this article reports that democratic institutions do matter in the levels of public R&D spending. However, the effect is more complicated across the different types and performers of research than expected. Additionally, the effect of one institutional dimension is found to be moderated by the existence of the other dimensions, which makes it clearly more challenging to sort out different degrees and directions of the relationships between R&D expenditures and political institutions.     

Calling Attention to the Nature of Professional Knowledge and Its Impact on Perceptions of Performance Measures

Nations around the globe are increasingly facing tough challenges when dealing with environmental problems. The limited success of government interventions to protect the environment is a testament to the growing concern about government's inability, or insufficient capacity, to address environmental issues. As a response, scholars note that promoting environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) on the part of the citizenry is critical for the growth and development of efficient environmental governance. However, despite the introduction of a variety of measures by governments to encourage greener practices, influencing citizens' behavior remains a major challenge. Using social capital theory, this article examines the effects of various social relation components on the promotion of pro-environmental behavior in five key public policy areas—recycling, food purchasing behavior, gasoline, energy conservation, and water use. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.