Preventive action and conflict mitigation in Nigeria’s 2015 elections

Prior to the 2015 Nigerian general elections, there were concerns that the fierce political contest would lead to electoral violence in the country. However, the elections were conducted peacefully, with fewer disputes and election-related deaths than previous elections. This study accounts for the fall in the level of electoral violence in Nigeria and discusses the lessons that Nigeria’s experience presents. It argues that the avoidance of destructive electoral disputes in Nigeria was the result of preventive action taken by the country’s electoral commission, civil society groups, and development partners. The specific preventive actions taken include innovations in election administration aimed at enhancing electoral transparency and credibility, election security measures such as early warning and peace messaging, and preventive diplomacy urging the main candidates and the political elite to embrace peace. The key lesson that can be drawn from Nigeria’s experience is that a well thought out conflict prevention strategy should be an integral part of electoral governance, especially in countries with a high risk of electoral violence.     

Grandes expectativas: la democracia mexicana y sus descontentos

There is no doubt that democracy in México has fallen short of expectations: it has not increased social and economic equality. Few people deem their participation in politics is now more effective than before, the elected government often fails to meet citizens' demands, and some regions of the country are seemingly under the control of violent drug cartels. These faults certainly fuel the voters' discontent with the democratic regime. The aim of this paper though is to focus on other less apparent sources of the existing intense political dissatisfaction. Mexicans are unsatisfied with their democratic government not only because it has not provided them with the social goods they are realistically or not expecting from democracy. They are also unhappy due to the perceived gap between an idealized notion of democracy and the way the existing democratic institutions actually work, as an odd ahistorical image of democracy has been constructed. The major claim of this work is that the critical standard of democracy assumed by Mexicans is inaccurate. It will be argued that this ideological misconception has had pernicious effects, as it has nurtured unreasonable expectations and has inhibited Mexicans from considering feasible reforms. It will be also examined in particular the role played by the pursuit of equity.     

Corporate raiding and the role of the state in Russia

To what extent are Russian state agencies involved in predatory behavior, and what are the determinants of their activities? Analyzing a novel data-set comprising 312 cases of illegal corporate raiding (reyderstvo) between 1999 and 2010, this article identifies a shift both in the regional and sectoral distribution of raids over time, as well as an increasing participation of state agencies in criminal raiding attacks. Using panel regression analysis to look at the determinants of increasing state involvement, this article shows that election results for the ruling president and his party, as well as the degree to which elections are manipulated throughout Russia's regions, are significantly and positively correlated with the number of raids in a given region, while regions with governors that have stronger local ties are characterized by a smaller number of attacks. A potential interpretation of these findings is that the federal center may tolerate a certain degree of predatory activities by regional elites, as long as these elites are able to deliver a sufficiently high level of electoral support for the center, with the effect being weaker in regions where the governor is interested in the long-term development of the regional economy.     

邓小平民族思想要旨四论

民族问题无小事。当今世界一些多民族国家因民族问题而导致民族纠纷、冲突不断,乃至国家解体,造成了深重灾难。邓小平把马克思主义民族理论与当代中国民族实际相结合,初步回答了在中国这样一个经济文化比较落后的统一的多民族国家里,如何巩固和发展平等、团结、互助的民族关系,加速发展我国少数民族地区的建设,实现全民族共同进步、发展和繁荣的问题,创立了独具中国特色的马克思主义民族理论。本文从民族平等论、民族团结论、民族区域自治论和民族发展论四个方面,把握和阐发邓小平民族理论的基本内涵及当代价值。     

庄子思想的现代价值

庄子哲学中有许多与现代文明观念相吻合的思想资源 ,主要表现在以下几个方面 :自由精神、平等意识、张扬个性、和谐精神、不为物役、生态智慧、返朴归真、宽容精神和批判精神等 ,在现代化进程中 ,我们应有意识地借鉴这些宝贵的思想资源     

婚姻身份协议的社会性别分析

婚姻身份协议正以越来越丰富的形态出现，中国民事立法尚未对其效力作出明确规定，司法实践对其效力认定不一。婚姻身份协议不同于一般的民事契约，它是饱受家庭暴力、婚外情等行为困扰的女性自我保护的一种救济手段。但建立在性别不平等基础的婚姻身份协议必然存在着难以解决的现实问题，因此这些受侵害女性的权益保障命题绝不仅仅通过婚姻身份协议就能够完成，它需要国家公共政策主要是法律作出相应的制度安排。     

关于协商民主理论与实践的几个问题

当前，协商民主作为中国特色社会主义民主政治的实现形式之一，已成为深化我国政治体制改革的重要任务。十八大对健全协商民主制度进行了总体规划和部署，协商民主在中国的发展前景，值得我们寄予乐观的期待。中国在长期政治生活中形成了多级政治协商制度，探索出听证会、民主恳谈会等基层民主实践，这些为健全中国特色社会主义协商民主制度提供了具有积极意义的实践经验。同时，党中央多次强调要建立社会协商对话制度，协商民主的协商场域正在不断拓宽。工资集体协商的广泛推行就是协商场域拓宽的一种表现，在这方面，福建泉州的工资集体协商尤其具有代表性。     

Love and the State: Gay Marriage in Spain

On 30 June 2005, the Spanish Parliament approved Law 13/2005, which amends the Civil Code to permit same-sex marriage. This formal equality measure put Spain in the spotlight of the international media. It is the culmination of a series of developments spanning from the last years of the Franco regime (which ended in 1975), through the enactment of anti-discrimination measures in 1995, to the recent fight for kinship recognition. It also follows a recent shift, from 1998 to 2005, towards the enactment of same-sex partnership laws at regional level, the approval of same-sex marriage and finally, the approval of a ‹gender identity law’ (2007). This legislative note assesses the context in which the new law on same-sex marriage has been enacted. I argue that although same-sex marriage has been represented by many activists and politicians in Spain as a gender neutral contract, it has the potential for differential impacts on lesbians and gay men, and further research and debates are needed in this area.     

论法律的安定性

法律安定性不仅是法律自身的逻辑自恰性、连续性和体系化,更应该从法律与社会生活的适应关系中去理解。法律须被明确规定、实用而且保持相对不变,否则,法律平等、合目的性将无法实现。在转型社会法律安定性是在应对法律移植与本土资源、法律与方法和法外空间等紧张关系中实现的。