Accountability from the perspective of the forum: citizens’ attitudes towards accountability in Europe

The aim of this article is to analyse citizens’ attitudes towards governmental accountability in 24 European countries and to examine the influence of contextual and individual factors on perceptions of accountability. Using as a dataset the 2012 European Social Survey, the results show that citizens respond positively when the media provides reliable information on which to judge the government, when individuals perceive that governments perform well, when individuals live in more extensive and generous welfare states and when they live in countries where the rule of law is firmly established. In addition, the findings also provide evidence that compared to politically left-wing citizens, right-wing supporters have, on average, a higher perception of governmental accountability. In particular, the findings show strong positive evaluations of right-wing governments by right-wing voters in comparison with left-wing governments by left-wing voters.     

The power of “small business” as pending narrative: an ideograph in UK politics 2004–2013

This paper explores utilisation of the term small business in contemporary politics in the United Kingdom. First, the policy and practice implications of the term small business are examined, through the lens of political rhetoric. Use of the term over the period from 2004 to 2013 is examined, drawing upon the DataArt Guardian NewsTraces platform as both a method of initially visualising an overall pattern of the term’s use during the 10-year period, and a medium for facilitating data collection for analysis. The research question is: how is the term “small business” used in political rhetoric in the UK, in the identification of policy problems and solutions, and the creation of pending narrative? It is determined that the term small business is an ideograph with different and often competing meanings for various interest groups, and suffers from serious imprecision despite policy efforts which strive for legitimacy. Even with spikes in use reflecting election cycles and periods of economic stress, the term’s power is in its mutable but appealing vagueness, and its enduring quality as pending narrative. This leaves open obvious questions of both policy efficacy and the sufficiency of ideographic-laced rhetoric as a substitute for meaningful policy.     

Charting informal engagement between de facto states: a quantitative analysis

Although being considered illegal entities and largely ignored, de facto states have received some extent of acceptance such as foreign representations short of embassies located in their capitals. This paper examines the conditions which lead to this informal engagement measured by the number of foreign representations to the contested states. We study the position of non-recognised states in the international system and the factors that condition this position. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this paper establishes sufficient and/or necessary conditions that lead to more informal diplomacy between established states and their non-recognised counterparts using data from eight cases.     

Dysfunctional state institutions,trust, and governance in areas of limited statehood

Areas of limited statehood where the state is absent or dysfunctional are rarely ungoverned or ungovernable spaces. The provision of rules and regulations, as well as of public goods and services – governance – does not necessarily depend on the existence of functioning state institutions. How can this be explained? To begin with, we identify functional equivalents to state institutions that fail to govern hierarchically. Moreover, we focus on informal institutions based on trust that are endogenous to areas of limited statehood. Personalized trust among community members enables actors to overcome collective action problems and enhances the legitimacy of governance actors. The main challenge in areas of limited statehood, which are often characterized by social heterogeneity and deep social and cultural cleavages (particularly in post‐conflict societies) is to move to generalized trust beyond the local level and to “imagined communities among strangers,” despite dysfunctional state institutions. We propose two mechanisms: First, the more group‐based identities are constructed in inclusive ways and the more group identities are cross‐cutting and overlapping, the more they lead to and maintain generalized trust. Second, experiences with fair and impartial institutions and governance practices – irrespective of whether state or non‐state – also lead to generalized trust beyond the local level and allow for the upscaling of governance.     

论小产权房与我国土地的利益分配

小产权房是一个全国热议的话题,针对小产权房问题各家学者观点纷呈。与其说小产权问题首先涉及法律问题,不如说首先涉及利益分配的问题,处理小产权房问题,也就是对整个社会资源的再分配问题。在小产权房带来的这一场变化中,受益最大的是地方政府和一些房地产开发商。未来土地制度的设计必须充分考虑我国的国情,因此,必须结合我国人口资源环境长远发展道路,思考"小产权房"问题。     

浅谈我国中小企业财务管理存在的问题与对策

中小企业是国民经济的重要组成部分,对一国的经济发展和社会稳定起着重要的作用。然而,现阶段我国的中小企业局限于生产经营型管理格局之中,财务管理和风险控制的作用没有得到充分发挥,融资难、担保难。分析我国中小企业财务管理中存在的主要问题,选择适当的财务战略、投资方式,强化资金管理和财会队伍建设,才能从根本上提高中小企业财务管理能力。     

Greenland from a Commonwealth Perspective

A Commonwealth perspective provides a useful comparative framework for understanding Greenland’s contemporary situation. There are parallels between the constitutional evolution of the Commonwealth, particularly in relation to the British dominions, and Greenland’s autonomous status within the Kingdom of Denmark. There is also a useful Commonwealth perspective on the issue of whether financial support from a metropole continues or becomes less in the event of an autonomous territory moving to full independence. Greenland’s situation also warrants comparison with the many small states within the Commonwealth, given that an independent Greenland would be very much a small state in population terms. As a predominantly indigenous Inuit society, Greenland can also be compared with ‘developed’ Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand where indigenous issues are important even though indigenous peoples are in a minority. Going beyond the comparative perspective, Greenland is relevant to specific Commonwealth countries, most notably Canada and the United Kingdom; other Commonwealth countries such as Singapore, India and Australia also have some interests relating to Greenland. Also beyond the comparative perspective Greenland is significant not just for the Commonwealth but for the whole world because of its position in relation to climate change.     

International Patent Strategies of Small and Large Firms: An Empirical Study of Nanotechnology

The aim of this article is to investigate to what extent small‐firm foreign patents differ from those of their larger counterparts. The research setting consists of the population of U.S.‐owned small and large businesses with patent applications at the World International Patent Organization during 1996–2006 in the emerging field of nanotechnology. Findings reveal a significant and growing contribution of small firms to the globalization of patents. The analysis also suggests that small‐firm patents tend to be more novel and embedded in domestic innovation networks than large‐firm patents. Policy implications are multiple, including putting international patenting on the policy agenda and helping highly innovative small companies to explore foreign commercial opportunities in new markets of capital and technology.     

群青悬浮液显现手印的研究

目的确定群青小颗粒悬浮液显现手印的最佳配方及适用范围;方法配置群青小颗粒悬浮液的不同浓度,对不同种类手印、不同时间手印以及不同客体上的手印进行试验显现;结果以1‰的1227表面活性剂水溶液为分散剂、浓度为20%的群青悬浮液为最佳配方;结论本研究结果可用于光滑非渗透性客体上遗留时间较短的多种物质手印的显现。     

中江兆民的和平思想——以《三醉人经纶问答》为中心

作为近代日本自由民权运动的重要领袖,中江兆民的思想向来倍受研究者们的关注。有关其代表作品《三醉人经纶问答》的分析文章亦数不胜数。兆民的和平思想以小国主义为特征,是近代日本和平思想的主要来源之一。在他的和平思想中,不仅能看到西方近代的人权观念,还能找到东方传统的和平观念。本文从近代日本和平思想发展轨迹这一角度重新审视兆民的思想,以《三醉人经纶问答》为中心浅析其和平政治思想的特征。