Linkages and Connections: A Framework for Research in Information and Communication Technologies, Regional Integration, and Development

This article examines the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and regional integration as a pathway to socioeconomic development in Africa and South America. Both regions share a colonial legacy often characterized by stronger economic ties to the developed world than within the regions. In recent decades, regional organizations have been involved in efforts to strengthen the infrastructure for ICTs, as well as the enhancement of economic and political integration as strategies to achieve development. However, the literature continues to show distinct research agendas that unwittingly overlook the connections between these areas. This article proposes a theoretical framework combining research on integration, ICTs, and development. It provides a brief analysis of each region and its ICT initiatives, the potential impact on regional integration, and how this relates to development. We suggest possible applications of the framework to identify and research the processes of integration and expected outcomes of development.     

官员问责制度化：现实困境与制度设计——对“问责风暴”的深层思考

继2003年＂问责风暴＂之后,随着重大突发事件接踵而至,在中国掀起新一轮＂问责风暴＂。虽然迈出了问责制度化的重要一步,但面临的诸多现实困境仍需要进行深层次思考。其普遍存在四种现实困境：重＂自上而下＂,轻＂自下而上＂;重＂火线问责＂,轻制度问责;重问责行动、结果,轻问责理念、过程;重＂轻＂责任,轻＂重＂责任。解决其现实困境,对其进行制度设计,理念先行是前提,绩效问责是突破口,官员复出机制是重要环节,统一立法是关键。     

谈高等职业技术学校教师实践能力的培养

企业需要实践能力较强的能直接顶岗的毕业生,而目前高等职业技术院校培养的毕业生不能满足企业的这种需求,造成这种现象的一个重要原因是高职院校的教师自身实践能力较差,针对高职院校教师实践能力差的现况,可采取安排教师到实践岗位进行专业实践、教师之间的交流合作、参加专业技术培训、获取技术职称证书、利用实验室或计算机房的实践教学功能、实训基地的建设等方法来全面培养高职教师的实践能力。     

论我国律师的执业赔偿责任

在对国外律师执业赔偿责任考察的基础上,对我国律师执业赔偿责任的性质、构成要件、免责条件及实践操作作了比较全面的探讨,以推动这项制度在我国的逐步完善.     

中国特色社会主义的理论渊源与实践基础

中国特色社会主义理论的形成与发展,既有其理论渊源,也有其实践基础。前者主要是指马克思恩格斯创立的科学社会主义,其对中国特色社会主义理论的形成与发展起着思想先导和理论基础作用;后者主要是指改革开放后的社会主义建设实践,其对中国特色社会主义理论的形成与发展起着实践检验与推动作用。文章从发展生产力是社会主义的根本任务、社会主义初级阶段基本经济制度等六个方面对此进行了阐述,认为中国特色社会主义理论体系是抽象的＂科学社会主义＂与具体的＂实际和时代特征＂相结合并被＂置于现实的基础之上＂后形成的科学理论。     

走向服务政府:洛克有限政府理论及其启示

随着国家治理现代化建设的推进,我国政府治理模式经历了管理型政府向服务型政府的转变.洛克有限政府理论在保护公民权利、实现政治国家与市民社会互动等方面具有积极的现实意义,但有限政府不一定等同于服务政府,在面对不同时期、不同国情下的市场失灵问题以及权衡德治与法治、自由与平等、作为与不作为等现实问题时,有限政府理论具有自身的局限性.而服务型政府必然是一个有限政府,洛克所提出的自然权利、社会契约以及权利让渡所构成的有限政府理论,对于新时代构建服务政府仍然有很强的借鉴意义.     

(Trans)regionalism and South–South cooperation: Afrasia instead of Eurafrique?

The paper engages critically with the increasing importance of South–South cooperation and the shift from African–European to African–Asian interaction. It argues that South–South cooperation is too often framed in a spatial logics of regional integration and transregional cooperation and thus reproduces spatial understandings that are characteristic for African–European relations but misplaced in the context of African–Asian relations. Moreover, it analyses perceptions about the difference of European and Asian cooperation partners amongst political and societal elites in Kenya and Tanzania, arguing that instead of a shift from African–European to Afrasian spaces of interaction, the two mutually coexist and fulfil complementary functions.     

Never Thaw that coming! Latin American regional integration and the US–Cuba Thaw

Existing accounts of the US–Cuba Thaw correctly identify the decisiveness of Latin American states in pushing the 2014 change in US policy towards Cuba. Problematically, however, these accounts overlook a range of regional integration projects pursued by Latin American states that prove pivotal in ascertaining the central dynamics of the region in shaping the Thaw. This article argues that these regional integration projects are imperative to understanding how Latin American states were able to alter US policy towards Cuba, for three reasons. First, these initiatives, and Cuba’s role in these projects, are central to understanding why Cuba came to be a unanimously ‘regional’ issue for Latin American states of all political persuasions; second, the challenges to US dominance in the region provided by these integration projects were ultimately what gave Latin American states their teeth in pushing the Obama administration to reconsider its policy towards Cuba; and third, a consideration of this broader regional context more thoroughly illustrates the strategic nature of the change in policy towards Cuba as an attempt by the US to salvage its ability to influence regional affairs in response to these integration initiatives that excluded it from the region’s architecture.     

A community of practice: explaining change and continuity in ASEAN's diplomatic environment

Despite change in the aims, institutions and informal diplomacy of ASEAN since 1997, the formal diplomatic code of conduct remains locked in a traditionalist mode first outlined in the 1970s. Existing approaches from mainstream International Relations theorising are unable to adequately explain this continuity and change. The recent ‘practice turn’ in theorising offers distinct explanatory advantage, which this article illustrates by arguing that the formation of an ‘ASEAN rationality’ between 1967 and 1997 fundamentally curtailed the ability of regional diplomats to revise ASEAN post 1997, resulting in the coexistence of new and old norms in ASEAN's organisation design.     

Martinique’s Accession to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States: A New Chapter in Caribbean Regionalism?

The admission of Martinique as an associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in 2015 has been seen as an event of significance in the Caribbean region for a number of reasons. Among other things, it was the first example of a non-Anglophone country being accorded that status, and it was the first French territory allowed to join one of the core regional groupings of the Commonwealth Caribbean. This article argues that the deepening of Martinique’s relationship with its neighbours within a multilateral framework may offer new practical possibilities for regional integration.